The Effects of Relationship Marketing Competence on Positional Advantage in Export Marketplaces

The Effects of Relationship Marketing Competence on Positional Advantage in Export Marketplaces

Exporters often suffer from cross-national distances and possess insufficient resources such as knowledge of internationalization. These exporters can have a partnership with export intermediaries that possess relationship marketing competence. Few studies, however, have explained export intermediaries’ contribution to exporters’ sustainable success in the export marketplace. The present study aims to identify the effects of relationship marketing competence on positional advantage in export marketplaces. Based crucially on the resource -advantage of competition, the author theorizes key relationships between cross-national distances and positional advantage and the moderating effects of export-intermediaries’relationship marketing competence. This theoretical model was tested using data collected from Korean manufacturers conducting export marketing. The data were analyzed using partial least squares technique. The author emphasizes the importance of partnerships in the context of exporting and contribute to the extension of knowledge on international business and strategic management. This manuscript is concluded with implications for theory and management and provides critical directions for further research given the limitations of the current study.