Preface
This research was completed in January 2004 and submitted to the University of New South Wales, Sydney as partial fulfilment of the requirements for a PhD degree in marketing. The goal of this research was to develop and test a model of export performance influenced by e-commerce. The purpose was to measure the relative impact of e-commerce activities on export marketing strategy, and the subsequent impact of this strategy on export performance. A contingency approach was used to examine the extent to which the relationships between export marketing strategy and export performance are moderated by e-commerce utilisation. In addition, the study examines how the relationships between internal and external forces and export marketing strategy are moderated by e-commerce drivers.
Since completion of this research, there have been significant commercial developments in the e-commerce area but still not many academic papers discussing this topic. This fact demonstrates the attractiveness of the research presented in this book, and its contribution to international marketing theories.
When the idea for this research arose, back in 1997, the term ‘e-commerce’ was hardly known, and hence it was pointless to argue its importance for business, and more specifically for exporting operations.