Export Orientation And Export Performance: The Role Of Marketing Capabilities And Brand Orientation

ABSTRACT Exporting is an activity that has been widely perceived as an effective route to the international market. For decades and beyond, exporting has been a means through which firms of all forms, sizes and resources extend their reach beyond national borders and into foreign markets with the view to expanding market share and increasing sales and profitability. Whilst traditionally, exporting carries some degree of risk, literature has specified that not all exporters are predisposed towards the international market; some have it thrust upon them by virtue of unsolicited orders, random orders and incentives from local government agencies. Export orientation thus emerged in literature as a paradigm that seeks to explain the characteristics of export firms that are more active, involved and positively predisposed towards the international market. This thesis was underpinned by the following objectives: to test the relationship between export orientation dimensions and export performance; to examine the mediating role of marketing capabilities on the relationship between export orientation and export performance and lastly; to identify the moderating role of brand orientation on the relationship between export orientation and export performance. A deductive reasoning approach was adopted with a positivist research paradigm. Quantitative research approach with a causal research design was chosen to aid in fulfilling the objectives of the study. The population for the study consisted of manufacturing nontraditional exporters in Ghana. A sample of two hundred (200) was selected through random sampling. A structured questionnaire was designed to measure the variables export orientation, marketing capabilities, brand orientation and export performance using a fivepoint Likert scale. Data was collected from respondents and analysed using the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) technique. The results of the analysis confirmed that export orientation had a positive impact on export performance, both as an aggregate construct and also individual constructs. It was however found that amongst the individual dimensions of export orientation, only three, out of the six used in this research were positively and significantly related to export performance. These three dimensions were competitive aggressiveness, proactiveness and defensiveness. The study also found that amongst the three significant dimensions of export orientation, competitive aggressiveness was the strongest predictor of export performance. The study found that marketing capabilities had a positive and significant relationship with export performance, and thus mediated the relationship between export orientation and export performance. Likewise, the study found that brand orientation also had a positive and significant impact on export performance. As a result, brand orientation successfully moderated the relationship between export orientation and export performance. It is recommended that the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) spearhead efforts to educate the non-traditional exporters in issues of marketing capability development as well as branding, in order to equip them to be more export oriented and thus more prone to successes in their internationalization programme. Future researchers were advised to examine the concept of export orientation and export performance from multiple contexts, to facilitate cross context comparison. Future studies were also encouraged to consider the use of a qualitative approach to gain insight into the branding and marketing practices of non-traditional exporters in developing economies.