Antecedents and consequences of firm’s export marketing strategy : An empirical study of Austrian SMEs (a contingency perspective)

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships among organizational factors (export market experience, international commitment), external environment (competitive intensity), export marketing strategy and export success. The findings yielded by the analyses confirm that export market-specific experience and international commitment are significant drivers of export success. In addition, the results indicate that the degree of product adaptation is positively related to profitability and overall success, while price and distribution adaptation to local conditions have a direct impact on sales growth. Finally, the authors found evidence that international commitment exerts a positive effect on the adaptation of marketing strategies to country-specific requirements. Thus, the study findings can be used to formulate business and marketing strategies to improve firm’s success in overseas markets. Design/methodology/approach – This study used PLS for dealing with formative and reflective measures and used a sample of 200 export ventures that exported on the average in more than 15 countries. Findings – This study clearly shows that export venture success is linked to managerial commitment and experiential knowledge and that firms contribute to export venture success by adapting product to foreign markets. It is also shown that firms in more competitive environments increase their effort to adapt, leading to better export venture performance. Research limitations/implications – Although Austrian companies are typically characterized as small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the study is limited to this sample. Practical implications – Managers in SME should concentrate their effort on a small set of export venture countries of concentrate their capabilities and effort (commitment and personal) to increase adaptation in those selected market, which will lead to increasing export venture performance. Originality/value – The study differentiates between formative and reflective measures which most studies in this genre do not, which is a fundamental conceptual shortcoming. This study shows with robust result the interrelation between commitment and managerial experience (intra-firm factors) and the degree of competition in foreign markets and how marketing mix adaptation affects export venture performance measured over a period of five years.