Towards an understanding of cross‐national similarities and differences in export information utilization

The extent to which and ways in which export information is used can play a significant role in a firm's level of export performance. Surprisingly, however, little empirical research has been conducted in the area of export information use, and even less attention has been paid to potential cross‐national differences in how export information is used. The focus of this study is the examination of export information use practices across different countries. Data from a total sample of 989 exporting companies across Austria, Germany, New Zealand, the UK, and the USA were analyzed using analyses of covariance to control for extraneous, firm‐level variables. The results indicate that firms from all countries use information instrumentally/conceptually more often than symbolically; they also tend to use export market intelligence more than other sources of information. Further, examination of the findings revealed that firms from different countries also use information differently. For instance, US exporters are much more symbolic in their use of information than exporters from the other countries, while Austrian exporters tend not to use information symbolically. Implications and limitations are discussed and future research avenues are proposed.