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An important contribution of the contingency model is the integration of internal and external e-commerce drivers as important stimuli and barriers on export marketing strategy. No research to date has been able to directly capture the effects of e-commerce on firm-level resources and capabilities and their subsequent impact on export venture competitive strategy. This study extends the notion that a resource-based view be adapted and addresses the gap in the literature by including e-commerce resources and capabilities as important drivers of export venture marketing strategy. The addition of e-commerce utilization into the contingency model further moderates the export marketing strategy-export performance relationship, helping explain how firms’ e-commerce activities are used to strengthen and enhance performance in key exporting functions. Overall, the findings of this research provide compelling evidence that e-commerce drivers, along with utilization of e-commerce technologies, significantly impact upon the environmental forces-export marketing strategy-performance relationship. The findings from this research are also actionable for management and offer clear prescriptive guidelines in how to develop e-commerce capabilities within the firm, and the role of management commitment in developing such capabilities.
In summary, this research is highly recommended for marketing scholars and practitioners. The contingency model proposed advances export marketing theory by incorporating new technologies and e-commerce activities into exporting strategy development. This research hopes to bring to the forefront the importance of extending and adapting existing ‘traditional’ measures to incorporate important e-commerce dimensions. Despite its wide-reaching effects on marketing practices, there is still limited academic research investigating the effects of e-commerce on exporting activities. The outcomes from this work have practical implications and a variety of managerial recommendations based on the results are proposed. This research will be widely cited as a key contribution to the field based on the extension of existing exporting theory, as well as the development and testing of new measures of e-commerce activities.
Dr. Gary Gregory
Associate Director of Centre for Applied Marketing Senior Lecturer of Marketing School of Marketing University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia