The Internet and foreign market entry mode : some evidence from Hong Kong
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Abstract
Perspectives on entry mode choice are broad, emphasising different tenets and
variables. However, none of them has examined the impact of the Internet,
which has emerged since the 1980s. The thesis aims to investigate to what
extent differing Internet usage impacts on foreign market entry mode choice,
the achievement of a web site and the performance of a firm. The different
Internet uses include using what the technology offers to businesses, getting
ready for Internet business by disseminating information online and providing
online customer service, and selling products and services online.
Propositions are compiled and tested by using data collected with a structured
questionnaire in a survey of 569 Hong Kong firms. Some pilot case studies
were conducted to motivate the construction of the questionnaire. Sample firms
were selected from the Hong Kong Business Web Directory 2000 and
www.yahoo.com.hk. Data obtained through the questionnaire were analysed
with the use of hierarchical logistic regression and hierarchical multiple
regression models.
It was found that firm size does not affect entry mode choice when the Internet
is used, and having previous international experience is not a prerequisite for a
firm to choose equity modes. Using what the Internet offers businesses and
selling products and services online have a significant negative and positive
impact on equity mode choice respectively. Findings on other variables such as
special abilities, market potential, investment risk, and transaction cost are all influential by the use of the Internet, but their effects are less significant. In the
examination of the achievement of a web site, special abilities, having previous
international experience and using the Internet to sell products and services
were found to have significant positive effects; while investment risk and
industry type have significant negative effects. In the examination of the
performance of firms, special abilities, using what the Internet offers businesses
and getting ready for Internet business were found to have significant positive
effects. In comparison, transaction cost and mode type have significant negative
effects.
Overall, the pattern of findings suggest that Internet usage has important
positive and negative effects upon entry mode choice and a range of variables
concerning foreign market entry choice, at least from the sample of Hong Kong
organisations. The main contributions of the present research are three-fold.
First, it has examined the impact of different uses of the Internet on entry mode
choice. The findings on the impact of firm size and previous international
experience pose challenge to prior perspectives. When the Internet is used in
firms' internationalisation, both small and large firms may follow the same
pattern. Firms' previous international experience is no longer as important as in
prior studies. This has implications for the ways in which prior entry mode
perspectives embrace the relative new technology. Secondly, it has investigated
these uses in great detail. Prior research depicts different commercial uses of the
Internet. In the present research, pilot case studies and surveys were adopted to
examine these uses and their impact on entry mode choice. Thirdly, a method
was suggested in the present research to measure these uses