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Building on the resource-based view (RBV), this study examines the differential roles of internal and external social capital (SC) in enhancing the marketing innovation (MI), competitive advantage and financial performance of Korean small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in export markets.

In total, 197 valid cases were obtained from Korean manufacturing SMEs in the consumer goods sector. Then, a path analysis was employed to test the proposed hypotheses.

First, SME internal SC positively influenced MI, whereas external SC positively influenced foreign distributor's MI (or foreign distributor MI). Second, SME MI was positively associated with foreign distributor MI. Third, no statistical differences were found in the strength of the paths from foreign distributor and SME MI to competitive advantage. Meanwhile, foreign distributor MI positively affected financial performance more than SME MI. Fourth, SME competitive advantage predicted a positive financial performance. Finally, the effect of SME MI on financial performance had an inverted “U” shape.

This study fills a research gap in the MI literature by identifying MI in terms of its actors (SMEs and their foreign distributors) and examining the differential roles of internal and external SC in MI.

Little is known about Indonesian consumers' acceptance of global brands despite their huge retail market potential. Drawing from Festinger’s (1957) cognitive dissonance theory and Schwartz’s (1992) value system, this study aims to examine the effect of Indonesian consumers' religiosity, cosmopolitanism and ethnocentrism on their preference for and purchase intention towards global brands.

Data were collected from 316 female consumers aged 20 years or older living in Indonesia via a professional online survey firm. The firm sent prospective participants an email invitation with a survey URL. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were conducted using AMOS 24.0 to test hypotheses.

The analyses revealed that Indonesian consumers' religiosity increased their ethnocentrism but not cosmopolitanism. Further, ethnocentrism decreased global brand preference without affecting purchase intention towards Korean cosmetics, whereas cosmopolitanism increased both global brand preference and purchase intention towards Korean cosmetics.

The findings show that cosmopolitanism has a stronger influence on global brand preference than ethnocentrism, suggesting ethnocentrism’s diminishing relevance in predicting purchase intention for foreign products. Additionally, religiosity’s effect on ethnocentrism was confirmed.

The purpose of this study is to explore the acculturation caused by the Korean wave among Indonesian Muslim consumers, especially in the food and cosmetic sectors, based on religious grounds.

Data were collected through focus group interviews with 20 Muslim respondents in Indonesia.

The findings specifically highlighted that Muslim consumers’ acceptance of Korean products varied. Muslim consumers’ acceptance was influenced by similarities and differences in values between Islamic and Korean cultures. Consumers categorised into each acculturation mode (assimilation, separation, integration and marginalisation) showed different behavioural patterns in Korean product acceptance. This study proposes that global products can be optimised through specific and targeted marketing campaigns for different types of Muslim consumers with products that comply with their religious values.

Few studies have explored the importance of religious values (e.g. righteousness, compassion and respect for others) with respect to the acceptance of foreign products in the acculturation context. Additionally, how values from other cultures reconcile with the Indonesian Muslims’ affinity for Korean culture has been limitedly studied. This study aims to fill these gaps by identifying the role of religious factors in the acceptance of global products by taking the example of Indonesian Muslim consumers and Korean products.

This paper aims to explore multiple reference effects with regard to customers’ post-consumption evaluations in a cross-cultural context. The authors propose to test an integrative model of three types of reference effects (disconfirmation, attractiveness of alternatives and self-image congruity) and their relationship to customers’ evaluations associated with satisfaction and loyalty. Additional insight into the link between reference points and customer satisfaction is provided by examining the moderating influence of the cultural orientation of customers: South Korean (an Eastern, collectivist and high uncertainty avoidance culture) versus American (a Western, individualistic and low uncertainty avoidance culture).

The data for this study were collected through a Web-based survey. Based on a sample of 723 Korean and American consumers, multi-group analysis of structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed model and the moderating effect of culture.

Overall, the results indicated that American customers’ use of reference points in their post-consumption evaluations is significantly different from that of Korean customers. Specifically, disconfirmation had a stronger effect on Korean customers than on their American counterparts, whereas the attractiveness of alternatives had a stronger effect on American customers than on those from Korea. Moreover, self-image congruity was found to be equally important in both cultures.

Owing to the comparison of American and Korean participants in this study, these results may not be applied to customers from other countries. Moreover, the study is limited to post-consumption evaluations in restaurants and generalization of the results to other industries may be ill advised. Thus, further research is required to replicate the results and include customers from different countries in more diverse consumption settings.

The findings provide useful guidance for efficient marketing strategies to generate positive consumer outcomes across borders. Marketers must consider the interaction of cultures and customers to better understand customer perceptions and evaluations about their experiences. This understanding will enable the marketers to more effectively communicate with their target markets and allow them to tailor advertising to different segments of their customer base contingent upon their cultural orientations.

Although the role of reference effects has begun to attract considerable interest among consumer behavior researchers, much of this research has been conducted in a single cultural context. Because the global economy is becoming increasingly cross-cultural, it is valuable to conduct international consumer research to further the understanding of consumers’ post-consumption evaluation processes using multiple reference points from a global perspective.

The purpose of this study is to examine the branding strategies of SMEs from NIEs, juxtaposing the different strategies used to specifically target developed and developing countries with regard to brand-building approach, type and number of brands and degree of standardization.

A case-study approach is used. In-depth interviews are conducted with 10 Korean consumer-goods SMEs exporting their own in-house brands.

Clear differences emerge between the strategies of SMEs entering developed countries and those entering developing countries, particularly regarding brand identity development, use of foreign sales subsidiaries and number and types of brands used. The authors find an interaction effect between product characteristics and host market levels of economic development, both of which influenced the degree of product standardization.

This study is the first attempt to uncover the branding strategies of NIE consumer-goods SMEs. The findings contribute to the field by extending our understanding of branding strategies used by consumer-goods SMEs from NIEs, thereby providing useful insight for other NIE enterprises when establishing branding strategies aimed at foreign markets.

Contrary to the mainstream born global (BG) perspective, some previous studies report the incremental expansion of BGs. In addition, the reasons behind BGs initiating specific steps, if any, and BGs’ entry market choices are still unknown or rather contrasting. This study views that such contrasting findings may be attributed to the contexts in which BGs operate. Within the context of consumer goods BGs, the purpose of this paper is to examine the entry market choices and post-entry growth patterns, and investigate the underlying reasons.

This study adopted in-depth historiographic case research from seven Korean BGs in the consumer goods sector that demonstrated success in internationalization. Multiple sources were used to gather data from each case. A total of 14 interviews, approximately two one-on-one interviews per firm, were the major means of data collection.

The findings revealed that first entry market choices among BGs functioned largely as attempts at emergent opportunities. However, after the first wave of entry into countries with available selling opportunities, entry market choice became a simultaneous pursuit of strategic markets and emergent selling opportunities. BGs focusing on image-oriented consumer goods appeared more strategic when entering the world’s leading markets to gain brand reputation. The analyses of internationalization processes revealed three patterns, which collectively implied that each move to the next stage came from a strategic decision to solve the problems related to survival and strategic visions for growth.

One contribution of this paper is the provision of empirical evidence for entry market choices among consumer goods BGs. The findings suggest that BGs’ entry market choices may not be a simple matter of simultaneous expansion to the world’s lead market. Instead, they may comprise more strategic decision. While previous studies have suggested such evolutionary or path-dependent internationalization processes, this study is among the first to reveal specific growth patterns and the possible reasons behind them.

This study aims to examine unique cultural influences in the context of buyer-supplier relationships in a Confucian culture. The paper identifies whether and how long-term orientation (LO), an inherent value of Confucianism, is an antecedent of important factors of channel relationships, rather than a relationship outcome and whether and how market orientation mediates relations among LO and other relational factors.

Data were collected from retail buyers at department stores in South Korea, a country that is representative of Confucian culture. One hundred and fourteen valid cases were analysed using path analysis to assess the proposed model.

LO plays significant anteceding roles in market orientation, trust, and economic dependence, both directly and indirectly. In addition, market orientation mediates the impact of LO on trust and economic dependence.

Testing the proposed model with both retailers' and suppliers' data will add robustness to the research findings. This research advances the understanding of cultural influence on channel relationship regarding the role of LO and market orientation. Strategic practical implications include that marketers who deal with business partners in Confucian culture need to understand the embeddedness of LO and its impact on business relationship management.

The current study scrutinizes unique aspects of cultural influence on the anteceding roles of LO and the direct relationship between LO and market orientation in Confucian culture. The findings on the cultural embeddedness of LO provide novel insights; they also provide managerial implications for Western marketers in how to better deal with Confucian business partners.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether preference toward in‐group members can serve as opportunism governance in channel relationships in a collectivist culture. This study proposes a model of opportunism incorporating in‐group preference and trust as antecedents of opportunism. Based on Transaction Cost Economics and Social Exchange Theory, transaction‐specific investment and relationship length are employed in the model as confounding variables of in‐group preference for opportunism and trust.

Data were collected from 109 Korean department store buyers and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (EQS 6.0).

The results showed that buyers' in‐group preference increased buyers' trust toward suppliers and decreased suppliers' opportunistic behavior. Buyers' increased trust toward suppliers was found to reduce suppliers' opportunistic behavior. Further, Trust was significantly influenced by supplier TSI, but not by length of relationship. On the other hand, opportunism was significantly influenced by length of relationship, but not by supplier TSI.

This study examined only the positive side of in‐group membership. Some criticisms of in‐group preference are favoritism, interference with fair competition, and collective blindness, any of which might decrease the efficiency of business operations. These impacts should be examined to gain a balanced view of the implications of in‐group preference in business settings.

Multinational companies should understand that in‐group membership is an important source of building trust and oppressing opportunism in the Korean market. Multinational companies can strategically approach in‐group members of business partners to become members of those in‐groups.

This is the first empirical study to examine collectivists' tendencies toward in‐group preference as opportunism governance.

Through structural equation modeling, Fishbein and Ajzen's modified theory of reasoned action model (TORA) is used to study the impact of innovation on Indian consumers’ purchase behavior of new processed foods. The results indicate that subjective norms are a key factor in understanding Indian consumers’ new food purchase decisions regardless of their level of innovation. Specifically, subjective norms are found to have direct effects on attitudes, intention to buy, and purchase behavior for new processed food products. Surprisingly, attitudes have little effect on less innovative consumers’ intention to buy. Additionally, product familiarity had a significant impact on Indian consumers’ attitudes, subjective norms, intention to buy, and, ultimately, purchase behavior of the low innovator and high innovator groups. Marketing implications are discussed.

This study seeks to examine the influence of market orientation on Chinese buyer‐supplier relations. A model is proposed depicting relationships among retailer market orientation, supplier market intelligence, supplier role performance, and retailer economic and social satisfaction.

Data were collected from 99 chain store buyers and managers from 25 cities in China. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.

A retailer's market orientation is critical for its own economic and social satisfaction by increasing supplier market intelligence (MI) and supplier role performance.

Retailers' MO increased supplier MI and role performance. This study found that economic performance was more important in channel relationships than social relationships. Therefore, suppliers should focus on improving retailers' economic satisfaction through role performance and market intelligence rather than social satisfaction.

Previous MO literature has focused primarily on the firm's performance and ignored the interactive aspect of business performance among channel members. The current study fills this gap by demonstrating the significant influences of retailer MO on supplier MI and on supplier role performance, as well as on retailer satisfaction – both the economic and social components. To the authors' knowledge, the current study is the first to relate retailer MO, supplier MI, and supplier role performance to two types of retailer satisfaction – i.e. economic and social satisfaction.