Explaining export development through psychic distance: enlightening or elusive?
Abstract
The concept of psychic distance has gained widespread theoretical recognition as a predictor of export behaviour. However, the empirical validation of the concept remains patchy and contradictory in terms of the results obtained. Consequently, this paper attempts to shed fresh light on the empirical usefulness of the psychic distance concept. First, a wider assessment base is offered through the development of two new US samples. Subsequently, the US findings are compared with previous empirical evidence from Japan, Germany, Finland and Austria. Taken collectively, the results call into question the practical value of the current operationalisation of psychic distance in explaining export behaviour and provide pointers for required conceptual and measurement improvements.
Keywords
Citation
Stöttinger, B. and Schlegelmilch, B.B. (1998), "Explaining export development through psychic distance: enlightening or elusive?", International Marketing Review, Vol. 15 No. 5, pp. 357-372. https://doi.org/10.1108/02651339810236353
Publisher
:MCB UP Ltd
Copyright © 1998, MCB UP Limited