The effects of e-commerce drivers on export marketing strategy

The emergence of e–commerce technology has had a significant effect on firms' export marketing. However, limited knowledge exists as to how e–commerce drivers affect a firm's export marketing strategy. This study develops and tests a theoretical model to delineate how e–commerce drivers affect export marketing strategy. The empirical findings suggest that internal e–commerce drivers (product online transferability and e–commerce assets) directly increase a firm's degree of promotion adaptation, enhance communication and distribution efficiencies, facilitate greater distribution support, and improve price competitiveness for export ventures. Furthermore, both internal and external e–commerce drivers (export market e–commerce infrastructure and demand for e–commerce) moderate the relationships between environmental factors and elements of export marketing strategy. Overall, the findings support incorporating e–commerce constructs into existing theory on export marketing strategy. The authors discuss theoretical and managerial contributions and offer directions for further research.