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1 – 3 of 3Jianbo Huang, Hengyi Su and Hanqi Wu
Merchant guild culture derives from business practices associated with medieval and early modern merchant guilds. This study aims to investigate the nexus between merchant guild…
Abstract
Purpose
Merchant guild culture derives from business practices associated with medieval and early modern merchant guilds. This study aims to investigate the nexus between merchant guild culture and firm internationalization as well as the factors that moderate this nexus.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the distribution of the ten merchant guilds in China and data on Chinese listed companies, this study uses the geographical proximity-based method to measure the intensity of merchant guild culture, which is the nearest distance between the ten merchant guilds’ origins and each firm’s registered address.
Findings
This study provides robust evidence that merchant guild culture positively relates to the degree of firm internationalization. It also documents that this nexus is stronger for firms with overseas background executives and those situated in highly marketized regions.
Practical implications
The findings of this study have valuable implications for both governments and firms. Governments can leverage local cultures to promote the internationalization of domestic firms, particularly in emerging economies with rich cultural heritage. Firms can further enhance their internationalization efforts by hiring more executives with overseas backgrounds.
Originality/value
This study advances the imprinting literature, provides a novel perspective on the antecedents of firm internationalization and expands research on the contemporary value of historical business culture.
Details
Keywords
Xiaosong Dong, Hanqi Tu, Hanzhe Zhu, Tianlang Liu, Xing Zhao and Kai Xie
This study aims to explore the opposite effects of single-category versus multi-category products information diversity on consumer decision making. Further, the authors…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the opposite effects of single-category versus multi-category products information diversity on consumer decision making. Further, the authors investigate the moderating role of three categories of visitors – direct, hesitant and hedonic – in the relationship between product information diversity and consumer decision making.
Design/methodology/approach
The research utilizes a sample of 1,101,062 product click streams from 4,200 consumers. Visitors are clustered using the k-means algorithm. The diversity of information recommendations for single and multi-category products is characterized using granularity and dispersion, respectively. Empirical analysis is conducted to examine their influence on the two-stage decision-making process of heterogeneous online visitors.
Findings
The study reveals that the impact of recommended information diversity on consumer decision making differs significantly between single-category and multiple-category products. Specifically, information diversity in single-category products enhances consumers' click and purchase intention, while information diversity in multiple-category products reduces consumers' click and purchase intention. Moreover, based on the analysis of online visiting heterogeneity, hesitant, direct and hedonic features enhance the positive impact of granularity on consumer decision making; while direct features exacerbate the negative impact of dispersion on consumer decision making.
Originality/value
First, the article provides support for studies related to information cocoon. Second, the research contributes evidence to support the information overload theory. Third, the research enriches the field of precision marketing theory.
Details
Keywords
Zhijun Yan, Roberta Bernardi, Nina Huang and Younghoon Chang