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Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

Despite the availability of side‐by‐side price comparisons, online retailers often charge very different prices for the same product. The purpose of this paper is to identify the drivers of price differences in an online retail marketplace by examining pricing information from a sample of sellers in the market.

An empirical, quantitative research study of Amazon Marketplace, using 498 observations of online sellers of a variety of electronics products was conducted. A regression analysis is employed to determine the drivers of these sellers' prices.

The results provide a set of factors associated with deviation from the mean price Amazon Marketplace retailers charge for a given product. The authors find that online retailers that charge higher prices post additional channels of customer service, post their return policy, have lower reputation scores, display a retail brand logo, offer more products, and are not electronic specialists.

The paper contributes to the theoretical understanding of the effects of information quality and governance structures on prices. This is the first study to focus on these issues in an online marketplace setting.

This paper aims to determine the importance of the human touch in customer service interactions.

The paper is based on two original studies using tech‐savvy respondents, utilizing a survey and scenario‐based research.

The paper finds that, even for tech‐savvy customers, human touch is an important factor in both customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions.

The study is limited to US respondents and telephone‐based service encounters.

This paper shows the importance of keeping some aspects of the human touch in customer encounters with the firm. Firms cannot rely on self‐service technology for all services.

This paper fulfills a gap in the existing services literature, with a specific focus on valuing human interaction in technology‐enabled service encounters.

This paper has two overall goals. The first is to serve as a broad overview of the literature on the subject theme, with three main objectives in mind: to highlight the complexities of international market selection or segmentation as a field of study and as a strategic decision by international firms; to explore the various ways and perspectives from which this area has been studied; and to suggest areas for future research by drawing on the preceding discussion. The second goal of the paper is to act as an introduction to the IMR special issue on the title theme, by outlining the special issue's objectives and the contributions to it.

Drawing on the relevant literatures, the paper begins by outlining the factors that make the field complex in both theoretical and applied terms, moves to consider the research streams that comprise its main components, and concludes by drawing conclusions and implications for future research.

A large part of the complexity characterizing this field arises from the fact that it is closely intertwined with the broader area of internationalization and a number of other decisions related to it, such as the “go/no‐go” decision and the firm's choice of mode of entry. From the research perspective, theory development has been impeded by a high degree of fragmentation, which has resulted in various different streams studying the same general issues from widely different perspectives.

The paper identifies a large number of directions for potential future research, not the least of which is the need for integrative research that addresses the fragmentation identified in the study.

Although this is primarily a theoretical paper directed at researchers, practitioners can gain useful insights from it by examining the various factors that have a bearing on their internationalization decisions.

The objectives of the main part of the paper will have been met if it succeeds in stimulating interest in further research and discussion on the core issues. The second part summarizes the contributions to the special issue and draws attention to the main message that each aims to convey.

Retailers face a multitude of strategic choices, with varying levels of risk, profitability and societal impact. Sifting through these options is a daunting task. In the literature, strategies have been successfully categorized using grids and matrices. Reviews first the strategy matrix approach, especially as applied to retailing; then introduces a topology of strategic choice in retailing which provides a way to assist retailers to think and manage strategically. The topology configures strategies into four directions: internal, horizontal, vertical and migrational. Internal strategies reside at the intraorganizational level and encompass various differentiation and time strategies. Horizontal strategies are expansionary and include choices on outlet numbers, internationalization, mergers and joint ventures. Vertical strategies turn the firm towards its suppliers and include supplier acquisition and improved buyer‐supplier relations. Migrational strategies are extraterritorial and involve radical changes of direction such as changes in outlet size category, location type and outlet type. Recognizing the synergistic interactions within and between the strategic directions is an important aspect of the analysis.

Brands have traditionally been regarded as a key asset and a source of competitive advantage in purchasing decisions, as customers are expected to prefer stronger brands to minimize risks. However, the role of brands in business markets is unclear and underresearched. The purpose of this study is to analyze the relevance of brands in a business-to-business (B2B) purchase setting and their key determinants.

A research model was developed to explain brand relevance when compared with other decision factors in a B2B context. Based on the frameworks developed by Zablah et al. (2010) and Mudambi (2002), the model considers the purchase situation, decision-maker characteristics and firm size as determinants of brand relevance in the decision-making process. One of the most prominent Portuguese construction groups, which comprised three companies, was chosen for the sample of this study. Data were collected through a self-administered, online, cross-sectional survey, resulting in a convenience sample of 87 decision-makers.

Findings suggest that attributes related with brands matter even in B2B rational decision-making processes. However, brands are not important to all organizational buyers or in all situations. Different purchase situations and decision-maker characteristics proved to have an impact on brand relevance, namely, brand reputation, prior purchases and brand awareness. Only firm size was not confirmed as a determinant of brand relevance in the B2B purchasing process.

B2B brand research is scarce, especially for industrial services. By investigating the determinants of brand relevance in a B2B purchasing context, namely, in a construction services setting, this study contributes to bridging this literature gap. Moreover, the few studies on the subject have been largely descriptive in nature and managerially oriented, while this investigation emphasizes hypothesis testing through a proposed research framework. Also, in managerial terms, identifying determinants of the importance given to brands by organizational buyers is critical in deciding when investment in brand development is more likely to payoff.

The purpose of this paper is to conduct an exploratory study of the branding of business‐to‐business (B2B) services, specifically examining the commodity‐like logistics services industry.

The paper is of a multiple‐methods research design.

Managers should first strive to develop compelling and differentiated value propositions associated with their B2B service brands. They should then invest in communicating their brands' value to internal and external audiences. Finally, they should commit resources to ensure consistent and favorable customer experiences with the brand. These three steps influence the strength of the brand, which comprises brand awareness and brand meaning.

B2B service firms in commodity‐like industries such as the logistics service industry cannot rely on differences in product attributes to develop brand meaning. Rather, they should focus on developing distinctive customer experiences with the brand by encouraging meaningful employee‐customer interactions. Such differentiated value propositions based on superior customer experiences build brand awareness and enhance the brand's meaning with current and prospective customers, thereby increasing brand equity.

Knowledge of branding practices in B2B service contexts is limited. This research addresses this knowledge gap.

The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the conceptual frameworks and concepts with which the research on internationalization patterns of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) should be conducted.

A comprehensive overview of concepts and a conceptual framework to study internationalization patterns of SMEs is offered.

The complexities of existing definitions and methodologies for researching internationalization patterns are highlighted, and a synthesis of the issues is provided. An integrative model of internationalization pathways, and their antecedents and outcomes is presented.

It is recommended that future research focuses especially on the time dimension of internationalization patterns. Future research can contribute to the literature by adopting a longitudinal approach with larger samples and more detailed cases to capture the dynamics of internationalization.

Practitioners might map their positions, and look for challenges and opportunities with regard to their chosen internationalization pattern. They can also benchmark other firms’ pathways and fine‐tune their own approach to internationalization.

The paper integrates a large body of research in an important research area in international marketing. It also provides guidance on how to conduct future research in the area, and introduces the content of this special issue of the International Marketing Review.

The importance of online reviews on online hotel booking has been widely acknowledged. However, not all online reviews affect consumers equally. Compared with common online reviews, key online reviews (KORs) have a greater influence on consumers' decisions and online hotel booking. This study takes the first step to investigate the factors affecting the identification of KORs and the role of KORs in online hotel booking.

To test the research hypotheses, this study develops a crawler to obtain 551,600 online reviews of 650 hotels in ten representative large cities in China. This study first uses a binary logistic regression to identify KORs by combining review content quality and reviewer characteristics and then uses a log-regression model to investigate the role of KORs in online hotel booking.

This study mined the factors affecting the identification of KORs by analyzing review contents and reviewer characteristics. Our results revealed that KORs play a mediating role in the effects of review content and reviewer characteristics on online hotel booking.

This study focuses on KORs, which have received limited attention in research but are important to practitioners. Specifically, this study investigates the antecedents and consequences of KORs. Our results enable hotel managers to manage online reviews effectively, particularly KORs.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how the internationalizing firm accumulates knowledge from different domains throughout time, during entry and post-entry moves in a foreign market. This paper focuses on market, institutional, internationalization and technological knowledge.

The paper uses a comparative case study method, relying on three longitudinal cases of multinational firms' (MNEs) internationalization processes, particularly concerning MNEs' entry and post-entry moves in one foreign market (Brazil).

Throughout the internationalization processes, the internationalizing firms unevenly developed experiential knowledge within Brazil. As a result, the market, internationalization, institutional and technological knowledge followed different accumulation patterns, distinguished based on precedence, simultaneity and speed. More specifically, (1) the market and institutional knowledge trajectories evolved simultaneously; (2) the market knowledge trajectory preceded that of technological knowledge and (3) the accumulation of internationalization knowledge happened faster than that of the market, institutional and technological knowledge.

This paper shows how knowledge accumulation in internationalization processes varies throughout time and according to the type of knowledge involved. While most of the literature relies on cross-sectional studies that discount the changing nature of knowledge, this paper shows that the internationalizing firm accumulates market, internationalization, institutional and technological knowledge following three temporal dimensions: precedence, simultaneity and speed.