The relative importance of types of information in the foreign market selection process

✍ Scribed by Kim R Robertson; Van R Wood

• Book ID: 104369316
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2001
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 101 KB
• Volume: 10
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0969-5931
• DOI: 10.1016/s0969-5931(01)00021-x

✦ Synopsis

Guided by classic decision making theory, this paper presents the results of an empirical study designed to investigate export decision making. It specifically examines the relative importance of foreign market information used by international managers when choosing export markets. The authors identify three levels of export market selection information (primary environmental dimensions, subsidiary export dimensions and specific decision variables). Findings indicate practicing, experienced export managers consider numerous pieces of information to be important. In particular, information related to market potential (i.e. foreign buyers' ability to pay for imported products, and the nature of competition in export markets), and legal environment (i.e. non-tariff and tariff barriers) was rated most important when selecting export markets. Somewhat counter intuitive (given its recognized importance in the literature), information related to the cultural environment was rated as least important. Discussion of findings offer insights to explain these results and call for extended research.