Managers’ intentions to pursue export expansion an entrepreneurial cognition perspective

Purpose: Grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior, the main purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of cognitive factors on the intention of a small and medium size enterprise (SME) manager to pursue the expansion of their firm’s export activities. Design/methodology/approach: The authors created a research model and collected empirical data among owners and top managers of 127 Costa Rican SMEs. The data was analyzed using structural equation modeling techniques to reveal the relative significance and strength of the effects of every hypothesized relationship. Findings: The results suggest that the perception of benefits and self-efficacy influence managers’ intentions to expand export activity. Managers’ intention to expand export activity, in turn, is associated with the levels of export commitment exhibited by the SMEs. None of the control variables seem to impact managers’ intentions. Research limitations/implications: The findings of this study underline that the export development of a SME is to a large extent only possible if the manager’s perception of control over the export achievements is perceived to be high. SME managers need maximize their perceived level of controllability over firm’s export operations and achievements. This study relied on self-report data. Self-reports are the conventional method for assessing constructs regarding beliefs, and motivations of an individual. Its use in entrepreneurship research is proved to be reliable. However, the authors have to acknowledge that using self-report data carries the risk of common methods bias. Practical implications: SMEs managers might benefit from strengthening the sense of self-efficacy regarding international business based on the results of this study. Originality/value: This study provides empirical evidence suggesting that a manager’s cognitive characteristics play a crucial role in understanding export expansion of a SME. The results encourage future research to incorporate cognitive theoretical frameworks to examine factors determining international entrepreneurial intentions.