Rethinking entry mode choice of agro-exporters: the effect of the Internet

Abstract

Understanding a firm's internationalization process, including entry mode decisions, has attracted increasing attention from the literature in international business. However, most of the existing literature on exportation by agri-food firms examines single-stage decision making processes based on the decision of whether or not to export, which export mode to use (direct versus indirect export), or both of them simultaneously, with three independent alternatives. This article researches the impact of internet use on entry mode decisions of exporting agri-food firms. In this new context, we propose that the Internet influences the entry mode decision and that the decision regarding exporting and the choice of export channels are nested decisions. The results show a positive effect of internet use on the propensity to export. The empirical evidence of the paper also supports the existence of a nested structure