PRODUCT AND PROMOTION ADAPTATION IN EXPORT VENTURES - AN EMPIRICAL-INVESTIGATION

While the desirability of marketing adaptation vs. standardization has long been debated within both academic and business circles, empirica l studies investigating the conditions under which each strategy becom es appropriate have been rare. This article provides a formal investig ation of the correlates of product and promotion adaptation in export ventures. A conceptual framework of product and promotion adaptation i n export ventures is proposed to integrate the diverse perspectives on the issue of standardization versus adaptation. The conceptual framew ork is further specified in a testable form and tested via data collec ted by a series of in-depth personal interviews with export marketing managers. The results support the contingency perspective recently eme rging in the standardization literature, and suggest that the degree o f the various aspects of product adaptation (i.e., upon and after entr y) and promotion adaptation (i.e., positioning, packaging/labeling, an d promotional approach) are significantly influenced by company, produ ct/industry, and export market characteristics. However, the profile o f the correlates varies across the various aspects of product and prom otion adaptation.