Showing papers in "Journal of International Marketing in 2018"

Addressing Endogeneity in International Marketing Applications of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling

Abstract: Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) has become a key method in international marketing research. Users of PLS-SEM have, however, largely overlooked the issue of endogeneity, which has become an integral component of regression analysis applications. This lack of attention is surprising because the PLS-SEM method is grounded in regression analysis, for which numerous approaches for handling endogeneity have been proposed. To identify and treat endogeneity, and create awareness of how to deal with this issue, this study introduces a systematic procedure that translates control variables, instrumental variables, and Gaussian copulas into a PLS-SEM framework. We illustrate the procedure’s efficacy by means of empirical data and offer recommendations to guide international marketing researchers on how to effectively address endogeneity concerns in their PLS-SEM analyses.

Marketing Capabilities in International Marketing

Abstract: There has been a significant increase in scholarly research focusing on marketing capabilities as an important aspect of marketing theory–based explanations of firm performance. This growing research interest in marketing capabilities has also been reflected in the international marketing literature. However, it is unclear whether and how thinking and research about international marketing capabilities differs from that of marketing capabilities in a domestic market context. To explore this question, the authors conduct a review of studies of marketing capabilities in the most influential journals publishing research in international marketing. They supplement this with insights from interviews with executives in firms engaged to varying degrees in international marketing. The study suggests that there remain numerous important unanswered questions in conceptualizing and empirically researching international marketing capabilities.

Consumers and Brands Across the Globe: Research Synthesis and New Directions

Abstract: Extensive research has investigated branding practices, processes, and consumers’ reactions to brands in a globalized world. In this review, the authors aim to organize and synthesize the growing literature on branding, culture, and globalization from a behavioral perspective by reviewing 129 articles published over 25 years. Specifically, they explicate two perspectives found in the literature: (1) global–local branding and (2) the influence of culture on consumer and brand interactions. The authors identify conceptual gaps in the literature and discuss how new realities in the macro environment (e.g., political issues, digital transformation, environmental concerns) may affect the interaction between culture, brands, and consumers in a globalized world. This review facilitates a more impactful future research agenda in both theory and practice at the interface of branding and globalization from the perspective of behavioral outcomes.

Global Customer Engagement

Abstract: Advances in technology and analytics have stimulated competition in the global marketplace and augmented interactions among customers globally. It is therefore imperative for firms to understand the behavioral activities of customers around the world to keep them engaged. To do so, the authors recommend that managers familiarize themselves with countries’ cultural and economic factors. The authors use Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and country-level economic factors to explain the national differences in customer motives while engaging with the firm. This study explains that national cultural dimensions exert an effect on the relationships in the customer engagement (CE) framework proposed by Pansari and Kumar (2017). The authors discuss and develop research propositions on the impact of the relevant cultural and economic dimensions that affect the various proposed relationships in the original CE framework. Through this modified CE framework, they introduce the concept of global customer engageme...

International Market Entry Strategies: Relational, Digital, and Hybrid Approaches:

Abstract: The adoption of digital communications, facilitated by Internet technology, has been among the most significant international business developments of the past 25 years. This article investigates the effect of these new technologies and the changing global business environment to understand how relational approaches to international market entry (IME) are changing in light of macro developments. Despite substantial resources in business practice dedicated to combining relational strategies in digital settings, this analysis of extant literature reveals that fewer than 3% of peer-reviewed research articles in the international marketing domain examine digital contexts. To address this gap, the authors assess 25 years of literature to provide (1) a description of the evolution of IME research; (2) a review and synthesis of pertinent literature that adopts relational, digital, and hybrid approaches to IME; (3) a taxonomy of IME strategies; and (4) directions for further research.

Middle-Class Consumers in Emerging Markets: Conceptualization, Propositions, and Implications for International Marketers

Abstract: As emerging markets gain significance in the global economy, understanding the middle-class customers within these dynamic economies becomes even more critical for international marketers. This article contributes to the limited but growing literature on this topic. International marketing scholars and practitioners should be better informed about this megatrend. What does the “middle class” really mean? What are the theoretical underpinnings for the middle-class phenomenon? What are the implications for international marketing? To address these pressing questions, the authors explore the middle-class phenomenon in emerging markets. Through an examination of conceptual underpinnings and empirical observations, they present a conceptualization and several theoretical propositions. Finally, they provide managerial and scholarly implications of the middle-class phenomenon and offer suggestions for further research.

An Assessment of the Exporting Literature: Using Theory and Data to Identify Future Research Directions

Abstract: Exporting research is an established facet of the field of international marketing. That stated, the radical increase in recent export activity necessitates a sustained research effort devoted to the topic. In this article, the authors provide a qualitative review of the core theoretical exporting areas and evaluate the exporting domain quantitatively over six decades (1958–2016). For the quantitative analysis, they use multidimensional scaling and apply established bibliometric principles to offer an understanding of the field and to provide suggestions for future exporting research. For the evaluations, the authors used data from 830 articles with 52,191 citations from 35 journals. Using cocitation analysis as the basis to evaluate the data, they propose a series of intellectual structure implications on exporting that relate to internationalization process stages, dynamic capabilities, knowledge scarcity, social networks, export marketing strategy, absorptive capacity and learning, and nonlinea...

Opportunity Discovery and Creation as a Duality: Evidence from Small Firms’ Foreign Market Entries:

Abstract: Little research addresses the likely enabling character of the discovery and creation of opportunities during the internationalization of small firms or how international opportunities are found and constructed during the process of foreign market entry (FME). This article therefore studies how opportunities become connected during small firms’ FME. By incorporating the concept of duality, this article conceives of the discovery and creation of opportunity as mutually enabling rather than opposed. From this duality perspective, opportunity discovery and creation facilitate each other during internationalization processes. This case study involves five high-tech Australian firms and 30 FMEs. The findings show that knowledge, networks, and capabilities enable opportunities in the FME context. International opportunities are connected and nested in different levels of generality and specificity. The FME opportunities may be based on opportunity embeddedness, because each opportunity has implications ...

Differential Effects of Customers’ Regulatory Fit on Trust, Perceived Value, and M-Commerce Use among Developing and Developed Countries

Abstract: Despite promising growth, mobile commerce (m-commerce) still represents only a small proportion of the world’s total e-commerce market. The research behind this article moves away from the predominantly single-country (typically developed) and utilitarian-focused market scope of past research to examine and provide a more nuanced understanding of customers’ motivations, whether utilitarian or hedonic, for using m-commerce across six countries. The six-country context, with data collected from 1,183 m-commerce users, offers a unique opportunity to advance mobile-retailing literature by comparing customers’ value perceptions, trust, and m-commerce use across disparate national markets. By treating motivations as conditions activated by individuals’ chronic regulatory orientations, our results show that hedonic motivation plays a more significant role in influencing customers’ value perceptions and trust for those who are promotion oriented (Australia and the United States), whereas utilitarian motiv...

Culturally Contingent Electronic Word-of-Mouth Signaling and Screening: A Comparative Study of Product Reviews in the United States and Japan

Abstract: Electronic word of mouth (eWOM) is an important source of influence on consumer decision making, yet little is known about cross-cultural differences in both the occurrence of eWOM and the relationship between eWOM and sales. The authors draw on signaling theory to develop a conceptual model and assess the relationships between country and the occurrence of eWOM, as well as between online ratings and relative product sales according to country. Online reviews and sales rank data for books, CDs, and DVDs were collected from Amazon U.S. and Amazon Japan in 2009 and 2017. Results suggest cross-national differences in both the occurrence of eWOM (eWOM signaling) and the relationship between eWOM and relative product sales (eWOM screening). These national differences appear to change over time: some remain stable, some disappear, and others emerge. The proposed culturally contingent signaling and screening model may be adopted as a framework for future research on cross-cultural eWOM. The results also ...

Behavioral Implications of International Social Media Advertising: An Investigation of Intervening and Contingency Factors

Abstract: Despite the rapid growth of social media and the enthusiasm surrounding social media advertising (SMA), scant theoretical and empirical knowledge exists on the cross-border effectiveness of SMA and its influence on consumer behavior in the social media environment. This research develops a four-stage belief–value–attitude–behavior framework to understand the intervening role of SMA value and attitude and reflect how consumers react to SMA across cultures and global social media types. The results confirm the mediating effects of value and attitude and reveal that positive attitude toward SMA increases social media–specific behaviors (i.e., message and social interaction behaviors). The moderating effect results of culture reveal a greater impact of infotainment on SMA value and of credibility on SMA value and attitude in the higher-uncertainty-avoidance culture. Infotainment has a larger effect on SMA value and attitude in global content community sites than in global social networking sites, but ...

Social Media Ties Strategy in International Branding: An Application of Resource-Based Theory:

Abstract: Despite the prominence of social media (SM) in global branding, no prior studies have evaluated an international brand’s strategy of establishing market-based relational ties with SM users in local markets. This study draws from the resource-based theory to conceptualize SM ties as latent relational resources and evaluate an international brand’s SM ties strategy on the basis of three resource attributes: value, inimitability, and rarity. Whereas value is the initial basis for a relational resource in SM, inimitability and rarity are the foci of an international brand’s strategy in local SM networks. The authors interviewed brand managers and SM users in China and New Zealand and conducted direct observations on brands’ SM sites. They develop two theoretical frameworks (one initial; one advanced) to offer insights into the development of brand–user ties as a relational resource in the context of an international brand’s global or foreign consumer culture positioning in a host-country market. The a...

“Should have I Bought the other One?” Experiencing Regret in Global versus Local Brand Purchase Decisions:

Abstract: This research addresses the unexplored postpurchase dynamics of global/local brand choices by investigating the experience of regret in global versus local brand purchases. Drawing on regret theory, the authors demonstrate in four complementary studies that the global/local availability of both chosen and forgone brands influences consumer responses to regrettable purchases and that the direction and magnitude of this influence depend on the consumers’ product category schema and global identity. Study 1 shows that regrettable decisions to forgo global for local brands elicit stronger regret, lower satisfaction, and higher brand switching than regrettable purchases of global (vs. local) brands for consumers with a global brand superiority schema for the category; the inverse holds for consumers with a local brand superiority schema. Studies 2 and 3 replicate the effect and show that it is mediated by perceived decision justifiability and moderated by global identity. Study 4 further validates the ...

How Can International Ventures Utilize Marketing Capability in Emerging Markets? Its Contingent Effect on New Product Development:

Abstract: Whether international ventures can benefit from their marketing capability in emerging markets is a critical but underresearched issue. Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV), the authors propose...

How Shopping Mall Service Quality Affects Customer Loyalty Across Developing Countries: The Moderation of the Cultural Context:

Abstract: Cross-cultural studies indicate the importance of service quality and loyalty in different nations, but they do not specify how cultural context affects the relationships among such constructs. The current research investigates whether mall service quality and its specific dimensions affect loyalty, as well as how cultural contexts moderate the relationships among these constructs in three developing countries (Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia). With a sample of 750 real customers, the authors show that mall service quality and its specific dimensions affect customer loyalty through the positive mediation of customer satisfaction and mall perceived value. Depending on the country, service quality dimensions (mall physical aspects, reliability, problem solving, personnel attention) have distinct effects on customer loyalty. Furthermore, mall service quality drives customer loyalty positively in Morocco and Senegal; customer satisfaction has a positive effect on customer loyalty in Senegal and Tunisia. Due to ...

Understanding Earliness of Internationalization and Its Impact on Postentry Geographic Diversity of International Young Ventures

Abstract: Early and rapid internationalization has emerged as an established phenomenon of research, yet several fundamental issues remain to be studied. In this research, the authors aim to analyze the link between earliness of internationalization—a temporal dimension of foreign market entry—and the geographic diversity of international expansion, as well as the contingent nature of the relationship. They test their hypotheses with empirical data collected in a survey among international young ventures in China. The results show that while earliness of internationalization does not directly lead to the geographic diversity of a venture’s international expansion, its impact becomes salient as the venture gains international legitimacy and strategic flexibility. Furthermore, the moderating effects of international legitimacy and strategic flexibility vary according to the type of the venture’s first foreign market (regional vs. global). This research advances the knowledge not only of the important role of ...

The Interface of International Marketing and Entrepreneurship Research: Review, Synthesis, and Future Directions

Abstract: There is no intensive review available of research at the interface of international marketing and entrepreneurship. This article systematically logs and organizes the subject matter and provides r...

Impact of Culture on the Pursuit of Beauty: Evidence from Five Countries

Abstract: Human beings have always coveted beautiful objects, but the desire to look good is touching new heights worldwide. Although the pursuit of beauty appears to be universal, industry evidence suggests that it is particularly strong in Asia. This research examines the effect of culture on the pursuit of beauty. Three studies provide converging evidence that interdependent self-construal increases the likelihood of using appearance-enhancing products. Study 1 operationalizes culture through nationality and self-construal and shows that Easterners (more interdependent) are more likely to use appearance-enhancing products compared to Westerners (less interdependent). This is driven by interdependents' tendency to conform to societal norms, which in turn leads to heightened self-discrepancy (Study 2). The use of appearance-enhancing tools helps to minimize this discrepancy. Lastly, Study 3 shows that the impact of interdependence on usage of appearance-enhancing tools is moderated by strength of norms. When norms...

Toward a Yin-Yang Balancing Perspective of Relational (Guanxi) Gatekeeping in International Exchange Relationships in China:

Abstract: China is an extremely complex and “insider-controlled” market for foreign businesses This study offers a yin-yang balancing perspective of international exchange relationships in China The authors investigate how “relational gatekeepers” play a key role in achieving a dynamic balance between Western companies and local partners in international exchange relationships In-depth interviews are conducted with 41 business managers based in China, Australia, and New Zealand Guided by the yin-yang balancing frame, the authors develop four key constructs of relational gatekeeping: the gatekeeper resources of mianzi (insider status) and renqing (insider favor) and the gatekeeper capabilities of zao shi (creating favorable momentum) and ying shi (leveraging favorable momentum) The yin-yang frame provides a process view of business relationships that accepts paradoxical conditions and embraces dynamic network momentum, resources, and capabilities The study concludes by showing the theoretical implicati

A Cross-National Study of Evolutionary Origins of Gender Shopping Styles: She Gatherer, He Hunter?

Abstract: The authors investigate gender shopping styles across countries and explore whether differences between male and female shopping styles are greater than differences in shopping styles between consumers across countries. The study develops a conceptual model to test Eagly and Wood's (1999) convergence hypothesis. Applied to shopping, this predicts that men and women should become more similar in shopping styles as traditional gender-based divisions in wage labor and domestic labor disappear. The results of a survey on shopping behavior across 11 countries indicate that men and women are evolutionarily predisposed to different shopping styles. Counter to the convergence hypothesis, differences in shopping styles between women and men are greater in higher-gender-equality countries than in lower-gender-equality countries. Empathizing—the ability to tune into someone's thoughts and feelings—mediates shopping style more for women, while systemizing—the degree to which an individual possesses spatial skills—med...