Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) has been widely used in international marketing, particularly for foreign market entry and expansion. However, existing applications largely focus on traditional firms engaged in dyadic transactions and overlook the structurally distinct nature of sharing economy platforms such as Uber and Airbnb. Unlike traditional firms, these platforms operate through triadic exchanges that mediate interactions between crowdsourced providers and customers and are governed by algorithmic control over provider behavior. The proposed framework extends TCE to global sharing economy platforms by reexamining its behavioral assumptions, transaction attributes, and transaction costs. This framework incorporates multiplex opportunism and platform trust as behavioral assumptions; algorithmic specificity, multi-platform participation, regulatory complexity, and institutional uncertainty as transaction attributes; and ecosystem advantage and location-specific knowledge as contextual moderators. In addition, it identifies four specific transaction costs (i.e., onboarding, coordination, adaptation, and safeguarding) facing sharing economy platforms and/or providers. Illustrative evidence for this framework that highlights how these features shape platform-provider dynamics across international markets is provided via case studies of Uber and Airbnb’s international expansion activities. The paper concludes with a set of testable research propositions to guide future inquiries on the internationalization of sharing economy platforms and the governance of global crowdsourced ecosystems.
While advertising is known to influence consumer preferences and spending, its impact on household borrowing behavior remains underexplored. The authors address this gap by examining whether country-level advertising spending encourages consumers to borrow more to purchase branded products. Using a unique dataset on consumer credit from 18 countries, the article assesses the direct effect of advertising spending on consumer credit. Drawing on Institutional Theory, the authors focus on three pillars, namely, the normative pillar (income inequality), the regulatory pillar (rule of law and regulatory quality), and the cultural pillar (conservatism and self-enhancement) as moderators of advertising’s impact on consumer credit. The findings suggest that advertising spending is positively associated with consumer credit. This result is robust to various model specifications, endogeneity, and alternative mechanisms. The strength of advertising spending’s impact on consumer credit depends on normative pillar (income inequality), and regulatory pillar of the institutional environment (rule of law, and regulatory quality) but not cultural values. Collectively, the results suggest that advertising spending has a significant impact on consumer borrowing but its impact on consumer spending depends primarily on income inequality, rule of law, and regulatory quality differences across countries.
Empirical evidence shows that foreign languages act as implicit country-of-origin (COO) cues and affect consumer responses toward a brand. However, it is unclear whether unconventional lettering—an implicit COO cue that uses a foreign language script distinct from the consumers’ mother tongue—affects consumers to a greater extent than a “made in” label (explicit COO cue). This study investigates the effect of unconventional lettering versus “made in” labels on consumers’ willingness to pay. Across three experiments, consumers exhibit higher willingness to pay for brands featuring unconventional lettering than for those with a “made in” label on the packaging. The results further demonstrate that (1) this effect can also operate indirectly through enhanced perceptions of brand authenticity, and (2) it is strengthened when consumer cosmopolitanism is high. Implications for research and practice are discussed, and suggestions for future research are offered.
Coolness can be a significant product success factor in today's global markets. Yet the field lacks a systematic understanding of consumers' interpretations of product coolness across cultures and of the factors that drive possible cultural variations. The authors conduct two studies (with Anglophone consumers) to conceptualize product coolness, followed by two cross-cultural surveys (in cultures that use the English word "cool" in everyday language) that test an integrative framework for product coolness. The framework replicates across the sampled cultures, which include U.S., German, and Chinese consumers. Major findings are as follows: (1) Consumers universally interpret coolness in two largely distinct ways: A product is cool if it generates excitement or admiration (personal interpretation of coolness) or if its appeal is socially validated (social interpretation of coolness), with the former interpretation being generally more pronounced. (2) These interpretations universally correlate with distinct product attributes often associated with coolness and with desirable and undesirable coolness-related outcomes. (3) Robust cross-cultural variations emerge, linked to specific cultural values. Chinese consumers subscribe to the social interpretation, rely on exclusivity as a driver of coolness, and desire cool products to a larger extent than U.S. and German consumers. This finding can be primarily explained by Chinese consumers' stronger orientation toward ascription (vs. achievement).
This research examines how trademark rights impact international marketing alliances. Drawing on the transaction cost theory, the authors examine how the strengthening of trademark rights influences the formation of international marketing alliances by reducing uncertainty in the relationships between alliance partners. Using a difference-in-difference approach and data on 29,858 alliances from 45 countries, the authors find that the likelihood of initiating international marketing alliances increases after a country strengthens its trademark rights by joining the Madrid Protocol. This study contributes to the research on the role of institutional environments, specifically those related to intellectual property rights, in the formation of international strategic alliances.
The Dynamic Capabilities Framework (DCF) is particularly useful for understanding how firms compete in volatile global markets by sensing opportunities, seizing strategic initiatives, and transforming their resource base. The authors examine the DCF's specific relevance to international marketing theory, research, and practice. They identify conditions under which the DCF is especially applicable to cross-border marketing strategy-including foreign market entry, digital transformation, global supply chain management, and crisis response-and contrast these with settings where its explanatory power is limited. Drawing on DCF-grounded research published in the Journal of International Marketing and illustrated through cases, the authors advance five propositions linking the DCF's sensing, seizing, and transforming mechanisms to international marketing outcomes. They also compare the DCF with six alternative theoretical frameworks to clarify its unique contributions and boundary conditions. The article concludes by identifying where the DCF's explanatory power is most urgently needed-and where the field's frameworks have not yet kept pace with the internationalization patterns firms actually exhibit.
The global marketing landscape is undergoing a profound transformation driven by the convergence of generative artificial intelligence (AI), geopolitical volatility, and increasingly complex regulatory environments. These forces are accelerating technological adoption while reshaping the structural foundations of global marketing strategy. This study examines how senior marketing leaders from multinational firms are responding to these disruptions, through a practitioner-centered qualitative design drawing on a recorded executive panel discussion. Using an inductive analytical approach that combines reflexive thematic analysis with the Gioia methodology, the study identifies three overarching domains of AI-driven strategic concern encompassing seven interrelated strategic imperatives. These imperatives capture how firms are redefining leadership roles, enhancing organizational agility, strengthening ethical governance, and balancing global coherence with local responsiveness in the digital era. The findings reveal that AI's integration introduces both opportunities for performance enhancement and tensions surrounding authenticity, ethics, and control. By synthesizing practitioner insight with contemporary theory, this study contributes a novel framework for understanding how global marketing leadership orchestrates technological, organizational, and cultural capabilities to navigate digital disruption, regulatory complexity, and the evolving demands of global markets.
Amid growing political polarization, recurring global pandemics, and escalating geopolitical tensions, the sovereignty of marketplace actors is under increasing threat. This growing erosion of marketplace sovereignty has opened new avenues for consumer and international marketing research. In this research curation, the authors bring together five articles from the Journal of International Marketing that examine how consumers and firms navigate turbulent environments. Collectively, these articles advance our conceptual, empirical, and methodological understanding of marketplace behavior under conditions of turbulence. The authors also propose two avenues for future research that build on emerging themes at the intersection of consumer behavior and corporate strategy. Specifically, they highlight (1) the tension between empowerment and surveillance and (2) the tension between globalization and national security as promising themes for advancing both theoretical and managerial understanding of human–technology interactions and international marketing in contexts characterized by volatility and uncertainty.
Generative AI tools (e.g., HeyGen, Adobe Firefly, Invideo AI) now enable marketers to translate videos not only by converting language but also by adjusting speech style, voice, and lip movements. Following this advancement, this exploratory study examined differences in perceived translation quality between AI-translated and human-translated marketing videos in international contexts. Two between-subjects experiments were conducted, involving English-to-Indonesian translation (Study 1) and Indonesian-to-English translation (Study 2). AI translation consistently yielded lower perceived naturality and accent neutrality than human translation. For language comprehension, AI performed worse in Study 1 but better in Study 2, indicating that translation direction matters. However, despite the perceptual differences, the two translation methods did not affect customer engagement intention. This study offers early evidence on how consumers evaluate AI video translation and provides 12 directions for future research.
Despite its practical relevance for internationalizing firms, organizational ambidexterity has received limited attention in international marketing research. Existing literature largely focuses on ambidexterity within a single functional domain and reports inconsistent evidence regarding its performance outcomes. The authors of this article advance knowledge by capturing contingent performance effects of exporting firms' ambidexterity in both market and product development domains. The authors test sequential forms of ambidexterity and their effects on performance using firms' self-reported ambidexterity measures and lagged, objective performance data. The findings reveal that market ambidexterity enhances product development ambidexterity, which subsequently contributes to return on sales (ROS) but not to sales growth. Interestingly, market ambidexterity has a direct negative effect on ROS but a positive indirect influence through product ambidexterity, indicating a suppression effect. Knowledge leverage capability strengthens the relationship between market and product ambidexterity. Additionally, the performance impact of product ambidexterity is contingent: Perceived market opportunity prevents it from eroding sales growth, while the degree of internationalization amplifies its contribution to ROS. These findings underscore the complex, domain-specific, and conditional nature of ambidexterity's performance implications in export settings.
International e-commerce firms (ECFs) face strategic decisions regarding the standardization or adaptation of market operations in host countries. While prior research has focused largely on website design and content, this study addresses a critical gap by examining the standardization of important online offers (e.g., assortment, price) and services (e.g., customer chats, payment options). Based on 1,921 standardization decisions by 207 leading ECFs in 68 host countries and drawing on institutional economics and isomorphism reasoning, this study investigates how general and added formal and informal institutional distance influences ECFs' degree of standardization. The results show that institutional distances impact ECFs' standardization decisions even though their role in online markets has been questioned. Specifically, added formal institutional distance emerges as the most influential factor for the standardization of both online offers and services. Online offers are also affected by formal and added informal institutional distance and are more difficult to adapt than online services. By distinguishing between ECFs' online offers and services and examining the role of added institutional distances, this study contributes to the literature by addressing a previously neglected research area. The results provide practical guidance for managers considering institutional distances for ECFs and their international standardization decisions.
Trust is a fundamental basis of business relationships, especially between salespeople and their organizational buyers. However, trust can be damaged in various ways. Previous studies have suggested several repair strategies to recover trust, such as offering apologies or economic compensation. While valuable, the effectiveness of these strategies can be context dependent. This research draws on social exchange theory and the guanxi literature to introduce the notion of renqing repair strategy. Across four experimental studies conducted with multiple samples in China and the United States, this research finds robust evidence that renqing repair effectively mitigates trust damage in both Eastern and Western cultures. More importantly, it provides evidence that renqing repair is especially effective in addressing trust breaches that occur in newly established relationships or when the trust-damaging action is intentional. Evidence also shows that, in addition to the established mechanism of relational fairness, trust recovery can be driven by feelings of indebtedness between the buyer and salesperson. This research contributes to the literature by expanding the understanding of an alternative trust repair strategy and offering actionable insights for managing trust breaches in business relationships.
Multinational corporations (MNCs) are increasingly engaging in corporate sociopolitical activism (CSA) on geopolitical disputes, which may elicit animosity among misaligned consumers in a host country. Building on signaling theory, the authors suggest MNCs using language strategies to mitigate consumer animosity. Across four experimental studies, the authors demonstrate that in the context of CSA, MNCs using rationalized (vs. evasive) language can mitigate host-country consumer animosity, as consumers perceive MNCs to be more authentic. However, the mitigating effect of rationalized (vs. evasive) language is significant only when MNCs respond quickly. The framework and findings contribute to the literature on CSA and provide practical implications for corporations using language to manage CSA.
Consumers do not always act in accordance with their environmental concerns and intentions. Researchers have posited that Perceived Consumer Effectiveness (PCE), or the belief that one’s behaviors are efficacious in ameliorating environmental impact, is a more appropriate explanatory variable. Yet, there have been contrasting results regarding the comparative effect of PCE, environmental concern, and intentions on green behavior. To address this question and to better understand the generalizability of the results to multiple cultures, the authors integrate PCE and environmental concern into a theoretical model based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. The results from a meta-analysis consisting of 118 studies, and 813 effect sizes, and 26,968 respondents reveal several key insights. First, cultural characteristics, such as power distance, masculinity, indulgence, and uncertainty moderate the relationship between PCE and green behavior. Second, contrary to prevailing assumptions, both PCE and environmental concern exhibit similar magnitudes in explaining overall green behavior. Third, a model with PCE and environmental concern demonstrates greater explanatory power for green behavior when compared to the traditional Theory of Planned Behavior model. These results offer valuable insights for researchers, managers, non-governmental organizations, and policymakers seeking culturally nuanced guidance to promote consumer green behavior more effectively.
Tackling the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has become a key strategic marketing activity for multinational enterprises (MNEs) to build their reputation and ensure their brand value. However, SDGs can cause goal conflicts for MNEs, resulting in firms not being equally responsive to all stakeholders. Therefore, this study explores how ethical leadership, underpinned by a corporate purpose, enables MNEs to pursue SDGs in foreign markets. The researchers argue that ethical leadership based on a corporate purpose can provide strategic direction for MNEs, thus enabling them to focus on selected SDGs that can be integrated into their values-based marketing agendas. Further, the findings reveal that a corporate purpose can offer consistency and perseverance in the exertion of ethical leadership at the local market level; however, ethical leadership may require organizational members to disassociate from structural inconsistencies and goal conflicts in pursuit of SDGs. Thus, the study makes a significant contribution to the literature on international marketing by adopting an ethical perspective to explain how MNEs can strategically position themselves in relation to SDGs in international markets. The findings suggest that ethical leadership can build a foundation for credible marketing communication while serving as a driver of values-based marketing programs.
Environmental jolts, which are unanticipated and disruptive changes in the external environment, can render firms’ strategies ineffective. Despite their frequency, research examining how firms become resilient to this negative impact of jolts remains scarce. Drawing on the knowledge-based view of international alliances, the authors propose that international alliances are a source of novel knowledge and resources, and in learning the routines and processes to assimilate them, firms acquire dynamic capabilities that enable them to overcome the lack of strategic fit with the environment triggered by jolts. Using a quasi-experimental research design and data from firms exposed to the dot-com bubble burst, the authors find that emphasizing value creation in international alliances attenuates the negative impact of jolts on sales growth. Additionally, for sales and profit growth, international alliance partner diversity positively influences resistance to jolts, while market diversity shows no effect. This study contributes to the literature by demonstrating (1) how international alliances enhance the knowledge, resources, and dynamic capabilities of the firm, (2) the impact of international alliances on firm performance in the face of severe environmental turbulence, and (3) the importance of obtaining competencies from value creation activities and collaborating with diverse partners as resilience-building strategies.
