An exploration of the information behaviour of Norwegian exporters

This article reports on the results of a survey of 221 Norwegian companies in which the nature and role of information was examined in the context of exporting and export-related activities. Amongst major findings was that Norwegian exporters place their main emphasis on informal contacts as a basis for information gathering. As sources of information, customers (external) and sales people (internal) emerged as being of particular importance. Regarding the decision-making issues for which information was sought, entry into a new market and change of agent were singled out as the most important. General information about foreign markets was ranked as the most important area of information. Significant differences were found between small and large companies across a range of aspects of information behaviour. The findings indicate that resources are a prerequisite to engaging in systematic information gathering, but also that the need for structured analysis of business operations in foreign markets is felt more strongly by large companies.

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