B2B international internet marketing : A benchmarking exercise

Purpose – To provide the foundation for further research and good practice in benchmarking since it combines the best aspects of traditional and new internet marketing activities. Design/methodology/approach – A methodological triangulation approach has been adopted that uses secondary data, a mail questionnaire survey, and case studies, to collect quantitative and qualitative data. The answers of each respondent were coded into the statistical package for social science (SPSS). Frequency analysis was used for data reduction purposes and to develop an overall understanding of the survey responses and a general picture of how the sample group has responded. The initial analysis used descriptive analysis for the whole sample. Furthermore, factor, regression and path analysis were used to study the research variables and their relationships. Findings – Identification of business‐to‐business international internet marketing (B2B IIM) critical success factors (CSF) by a holistic literature review and a series of statistical and qualitative analysis of the relevant data. Provides information and valuable insights into the marketers' acceptance of the internet for B2B marketing activities. It has also tested the validity of the TAM and IDT in the domain of internet environment. Research limitations/implications – B2B IIM is an area of research where theory is still inadequate. This study is limited by its cross sectional nature. An additional limitation of the study is the reliance on the subjective, self‐report indicators to measure the research constructs in the survey questionnaire. Another limitation to this study is in representativeness and generlisability issues. Practical implications – In terms of academic implications, it proposes factors that affect the adoption of the internet for B2B international marketing activities. A key managerial implication is the effect of internet usage on B2B IIM efficiency. Notably, it was found that the use of the internet affects B2B IIM efficiency not directly, but indirectly, through B2B marketing and customer relations activities, international marketing targeting activities and marketing performance. This means that the competitive advantage of marketing efficiency is not automatically achieved with the adoption of the internet. Originality/value – This paper offers several avenues for investigating individual factors that have a direct impact on the use of internet for international marketing purpose.