International marketing strategy and export performance in Spanish SMEs: a contingency approach

摘要

This paper investigates whether the degree of standardisation/ adaptation of the overall international marketing strategy influences the export performance in SMEs, taking into account the moderating effect of internal and external variables. Drawing on a contingency approach of international marketing strategy standardisation/adaptation, a conceptual model is proposed and tested with a sample of Spanish exporting SMEs using structural equation modelling (SEM). Based on the findings, a more standardised international marketing strategy benefits larger SMEs and those firms which perceive the environmental differences between the home-host markets as important barriers for the export activity; whereas a more adapted international marketing strategy appears to be preferable for smaller SMEs as well as for companies which belong to low-technology industries or do not see the environmental differences as high export barriers.