A comparative evaluation of the Internet’s influence on international market penetration and development growth strategies of Australian SME’s

The aim of this research is to explore the variables that are influenced by the Internet on international market growth of SME’s in Australia. Subsequently, the research question, “How has the Internet influenced international market growth for Australian SME’s?‿ has been developed. To investigate this phenomenon in-depth case interviews were conducted with experienced international marketing strategic managers from twelve Australian SME’s that operate internationally and uses the Internet in their internationalisation process. The findings of availability of marketing intelligence information, the enhanced interactive capabilities, and heightened international mindset due to the Internet were identified as pivotal variable alterations in the internationalisation process. The findings are used in the development of hypotheses and a pre- model for further testing in the future.