When Does International Marketing Standardization Matter to Firm Performance?

Abstract

The topic of standardization of international marketing programs represents an important issue faced by managers of global firms and has attracted significant research attention. Although previous research has established that standardization enhances performance outcomes, more recent theorizing suggests that this may not always be the case. However, empirical investigators have paid little systematic attention to moderating conditions. The major purpose of this article is to investigate the organizational factors that moderate the standardization–performance relationship and, thus, to explore the types of firm for which standardization is particularly beneficial. The authors examine survey data from 489 firms, and their results indicate that the standardization–performance link is significantly stronger for large firms with a homogeneous product offering, high levels of global market penetration, a cost leadership strategy, and strong coordination capabilities. The authors conclude that managers evaluating the adequacy of a standardization strategy should consider the list of contingencies advanced in this research.

Sustainable Export Marketing Strategy Fit and Performance

“…Yet accumulated results do not show support for adaptation over standardization, or vice versa. Drawing on insights from strategic management (Zajac, Kraatz, and Bresser 2000), scholars have shown that the appropriateness of a particular marketing program can be defined in terms of its "fit" with environmental factors (Schilke, Reimann, and Thomas 2009). The contingency theory of fit tests whether more than one strategy maximizes performance across a sample of firms, on the basis of their various environmental conditions.…”

“…Both approaches entail identifying the precise functional form between contingency and response variables (e.g., extent of marketing strategy adaptation for each environmental variable) needed to augment performance variables. Fit as moderation has proved useful in identifying specific, theoretically robust contingency relationships (Schilke, Reimann, and Thomas 2009), even if the results of moderation testing applied to the adaptation issue have been inconsistent (Xu, Cavusgil, and White 2006). Fit as matching is a response to the reductionism (i.e., overly pragmatic specificity) of moderation, insofar as it assumes that firms are surrounded by an array of contingencies that require simultaneous examination.…”

An empirical study of the relationship between marketing standardization and performance of Japanese firms in international markets: the moderating role of product strategy

“…Pursuing a policy of using uniform marketing mix variables across national markets becomes available to firms through marketing standardization (Schilke et al, 2009;Zou & Cavusgil, 2002). In other words, the homogeneous needs and preferences of consumers enable firms to implement similar marketing strategies across multiple countries.…”

“…Firms should choose strategies that best enable them to apply their limited resources to increase sales and maintain their competitive advantage in a global context (Schilke, Reimann, & Thomas, 2009).…”

“…For around half a century, the debate on which marketing strategies are most effective for optimizing firm performance garnered interest in the international marketing field (Baba, 2012;Buzzell, 1968;Levitt, 1983;Zeriti, Robson, Spyropoulou, & Leonidou, 2014;Zou & Cavusgil, 2002). Some scholars argued in favor of standardization as an effective option (e.g., Schilke et al, 2009;Zou & Cavusgil, 2002), whereas others suggested that marketing adaptation leads to greater firm performance (e.g., Magnusson, Westjohn, Semenov, Randrianasolo, & Zdravkovic, 2013). Given these mixed findings, researchers asserted that the most appropriate firm-specific marketing strategies depend on the conditions (e.g., products, policies, procedures, and international environments) that maintain firms' competitive advantages (Morokami, 2000;Wei et al, 2014).…”