Anthony C. Koh

Variations in export performance due to differences in export marketing strategy: Implications for industrial marketers

Abstract This study examines the impact of differential export marketing strategies on export performance in an idustrial setting. Out of ten export marketing variables investigated, only three variables—export pricing, direct buyer, and channel strategies— were found to impact on export performance. Implications for export managers and public policy makers are also presented in the paper.

A Managerial Perspective on Electronic Commerce Development in Malaysia

This research investigates the development of electronic commerce in Malaysia. It reviews the nations e-commerce readiness and surveys local firms, a majority of them small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), on their Web presence and e-commerce initiatives, management, capabilities and performance. Overall, while e-commerce in Malaysia is in its formative phases, a majority of firms in the survey sample have progressed beyond “brochureware” into the “interactions” phase; few have reached the “e-commerce” phase but many are planning to. They are driven primarily by marketing considerations and have seen the greatest impact of e-commerce on their marketing and overall business operations. Taking the lead are SMEs in IT/Internet services and solutions that see great opportunities in the nations need to build the foundation layers for its emerging Internet economy. Most reluctant and least satisfied to date are SMEs in manufacturing that find the business-to-business sector largely undeveloped. The government can take some credits for its leadership in addressing the barriers to e-commerce development but the most significant barriers falls squarely within the private sectors domain. They will have to be overcome by entrepreneurial talents and management foresight.

Adoption of social networks marketing by SMEs: exploring the role of social influences and experience in technology acceptance

As social media increasingly penetrate the business world, it is important to understand the underlying reasons for companies to adopt social networks marketing (SNM). This study extends the technology acceptance model (TAM) to explore the role of social influences in the context of SNM technology adoption by small and medium companies, and considers how the temporal aspect of new technology adoption affects this relationship. Our findings show that adoption of SNM is strongly influenced by social influences from experts, competitors, and customers. These social influences affect intention to adopt this new technology both directly, and by affecting the perceptions of the technology usefulness. For SMEs already using SNM, social influence is the only strong determinant of the intention to continue employing this marketing technology, with the amount of experience with SNM strengthening this relationship.

Exploring social media marketing strategies in SMEs

This paper explores the emerging consistencies in the implementation of social media marketing by SMEs and classifies these recurring patterns into a taxonomy of managerially relevant strategic types. The empirical method of cluster analysis is applied to self-reported data by marketing executives to derive a typology of three dominant social media marketing strategic patterns. Calculative pragmatists, cautious watchers, and proactive strategists exhibit significant differences in the implementation of social media venues, perceived benefits of social media, utilised tactics, and performance. Cluster membership is also associated with industry type and firm size, as well as companies’ goals and reasons for adopting SMM.

Antecedents of Belief in Global Citizenship: A Two-Country Empirical Investigation

ABSTRACT This research contributes to the existing literature by investigating the antecedents of belief in global citizenship. Previous literature in global brand management has provided strong evidence of the importance of perceived quality and social prestige of global brands in influencing consumers’ evaluations of global brands. Accordingly, the authors’ model focuses on the perceived quality and social prestige of global brands as antecedents of consumers’ belief in global citizenship. In addition, they examine the direct and indirect effects of consumer ethnocentricity and cultural openness on consumers’ belief in global citizenship. They empirically examine this framework within a rich cross-cultural context using samples from the United States and India (developed and developing countries). The proposed model suggests that perceived quality and social prestige of global brands are mediators of the relationship between ethnocentricity and cultural openness and consumers’ belief in global citizenship. They followed Gerbing and Andersons two-step approach to develop a measurement model with an acceptable fit to the data and then conducted a structural model to test the hypothesized relationships. The authors conducted χ2 difference tests to examine the structure of their hypothesized relationships across the United States and India. The results support partial mediation for perceived quality and social prestige of global brands on the relationship between ethnocentricity and cultural openness and consumers’ belief in global citizenship. Furthermore, they demonstrate some interesting differences in the relationships in the model across the two samples.

An Evaluation of the Current Export Marketing Practices of United States Firms

This study evaluated the current export marketing practices of United States firms and compared them to successful export marketing strategies reported in the literature. The research showed that more U.S. exporters are committed to exporting. A large number sell directly to end-users through their own export department and provide some form of dealer support; about 60 percent of the respondents visit their overseas customers persistently. However, many exporters still take the easy way out: use of the f.o.b. (ex-factory or U.S. port) basis for price quotation, determining export pricing from their U.S. price list, and do minimal information search. Suggestions for improving U.S. exporting practices are also provided in this papers.

The Impact of International Marketing Research on Export Marketing Strategy: An Empirical Investigation

This paper examined the impact of che frequency and extent of international marketing research on export marketing strategy. Of the 18 hypotheses tested, 14 hypotheses were rejected at the .05 level of significance. The study revealed that international marketing research will affect the way in which exporters determine export pricing and export price quotation, frequency with which chey conduct face-to-face meeting with their overseas dealers or distributors, provide level of dealer support, the type of direct buyer overseas, and the type of export channel used.

The practice of e-commerce in Malaysia

Findings from this research indicate that e-commerce in Malaysia is still in its formative phases. However, a majority of firms in the survey sample have progressed beyond brochureware and are in the interactions phase. Few have moved into the e-commerce phase. Firms in IT/Internet services and solutions have taken the lead; however, manufacturing firms lack behind and find themselves the least developed in e-commerce initiatives. B2B e-commerce is still in its infancy. The government is recognised for its efforts in developing an IT and knowledge-based economy. Strategic implications and recommendations for managerial and public policy consideration are developed.

An Examination of Cultural Influences in Green Environmental Behaviour in India and the United States

Environmental issues is on the forefront in many discussions from both business and consumer perspectives. However, not everyone is pursuing pro-environmental sustainable behaviors. This research contributes to the literature by investigating some cultural antecedents of environmental concerns and pro-environmental behavior in two different, somewhat dichotomous cultures. Our proposed model suggests that cultural differences measured at the individual level influence consumer’s environmental concerns and subsequently their pro-environmental sustainable behaviors. We empirically examined our model within a rich cross-cultural context using samples from India and the United States. When examined at the macro-cultural level, Individualism and collectivism are considered at the opposite ends of one continuum. However, at the individual level, existing research suggest that individualism and collectivism represent separate dimensions. That is, both exist within the same culture and the same individual can exhibit both values at the same time across different situations. Consistent with such conceptualization, our findings show that at the individual level and for this type of perceptions and behaviors both individualism and collectivism are strongly related to green consciousness. Results show a negative strong influence for individualism on environmental consciousness while we find strong positive influence for collectivism on environmental consciousness across the two countries. With regard to harmony and mastery, our results show that while harmony was a strong and significant predictor of environmental consciousness in the United States and India, mastery did not significantly influence environmental consciousness in both countries. Such findings suggest that overall cultural influences and motivates people in different ways in different cultures depending on the type or the context of behavior. Results suggest that while the United States in general is a society that is driven more by mastery orientation, our results suggest that at the individual level, individuals might be driven by different orientations depending on the context of decision and consumption. Finally, our results show that environmental consciousness was positively related to both green consumerism behavior and active ecological behavior. From a theoretical perspective, we investigated the role that cultural factors influence consumer environmental concerns and behaviors. More importantly, while previous research focused on such differences at the country level we investigated such issues at the individual consumer level. Our findings are interesting and suggest the importance of examining such cultural factors at the individual level rather than just at the country level as well as signal the importance of examining the different role that such cultural factors play across different consumption contexts. Even for consumers in developing countries, like the United States, that are categorized as individualistic and mastery oriented societies are capable of being influenced by collectivism and harmony orientation at the individual level and within some contexts (e.g., environmental issues).

Global Vs. Local Brand Positioning Strategies: the Moderating Effect Of Belief in Global Citizenship

To assist brand managers seeking to strengthen their brand’s equity in a competitive global marketplace, Alden, Steenkamp, and Batra (1999) conceptualized and tested a brand positioning strategy which they labeled “global consumer culture positioning” (GCCP) as contrasted with local consumer culture positioning strategy (LCCP). A GCCP strategy is defined as “one that identifies the brand as a symbol of a given global culture” and represented by “advertising featuring the idea that consumers all over the world consume a particular brand” (Alden et al., p. 77). On the other hand, a LCCP strategy is defined as “a strategy that associates the brand with local cultural meanings, reflects the local culture’s norms and identities, is portrayed as consumed by local people in the national culture, and/or is depicted as locally produced for local people” (Alden et al., p. 77). The authors suggested that these positioning strategies are intended to influence brand value in an increasingly globalized market.