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Market Withdrawal, International Orientation and International Marketing: Effects on SME Performance in Foreign Markets

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Advances in Global Marketing

Abstract

Although withdrawal from a foreign market is a quite common decision for internationalized firms in the current competitive environment, it is apparent that this phenomenon has received rather scant attention in academic research. This is one of the few studies in the international marketing area establishing a direct link between market withdrawal and performance in foreign markets, as well as exploring the factors that affect this relationship. Therefore, we conducted a three-country study that investigates the effects of market withdrawal, international orientation, and marketing-related resources and capabilities on international performance of internationalized small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The evidence suggests that withdrawal from a market negatively affects international performance, whereas international orientation, and marketing resources and capabilities positively affect international performance. The empirical results further show that in the case of strong presence of international orientation, withdrawal decisions have a positive influence on international performance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Athens University of Economics and Business, 12 Derigny Str., 10434, Athens, Greece

    Panagiota Sapouna

  2. Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, West Quadrangle, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK

    Pavlos Dimitratos

  3. University of Vaasa, Wolffintie 34, 65200, Vaasa, Finland

    Jorma Larimo

  4. University of Pavia, Via San Felice, 5, 27100, Pavia, Italy

    Antonella Zucchella

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  1. Panagiota Sapouna
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  2. Pavlos Dimitratos
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  3. Jorma Larimo
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  4. Antonella Zucchella
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Correspondence to Panagiota Sapouna .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics and Management, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Leonidas C. Leonidou

  2. Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds, Leeds, USA

    Constantine S. Katsikeas

  3. Collins College of Business, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

    Saeed Samiee

  4. Faculty of Business, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey

    Bilge Aykol

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Sapouna, P., Dimitratos, P., Larimo, J., Zucchella, A. (2018). Market Withdrawal, International Orientation and International Marketing: Effects on SME Performance in Foreign Markets. In: Leonidou, L., Katsikeas, C., Samiee, S., Aykol, B. (eds) Advances in Global Marketing. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61385-7_12

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