Practices of successful small and medium‐sized exporters: the use of market information

This paper investigates the international market research activities of 96 successful small and medium‐sized exporters. The research focuses upon the types of information considered most important for decision making and the various sources that these enterprises use to obtain the information. The empirical work suggests successful firms put much greater emphasis on the information required for long‐term strategic planning rather than the day to day operations of the business. The vast majority of the firms used internal sources for this information. Strong statistical evidence is presented to suggest that the firms under investigation actively use the information they collect for decision making, rather than simply paying lip service to the concept of market research. This work makes an important contribution to the literature, because it represents one of very few empirical studies which provide support for the widely held belief that collection and subsequent use of market information is an important feature of successful exporters’ behaviour.