ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses two key issues concerning export marketing decisions and strategy: export motives and overseas market selection decisions. The decision to go abroad is widely considered to be the critical first step in a firm's internationalization process. For most firms, this decision involves exporting; such other modes of entering foreign markets as licensing and direct production abroad are normally considered only after substantial experience has been acquired through export activities. It is generally assumed that a firm should have a motive for accepting or soliciting its first export order. The investigations reported in the literature therefore focus attention on factors that prompt the initial decision to export and have disregarded considerations about how long these factors sustain a firm's export drive. Two main aspects of the decision-making process have received significant attention:
Who within the firm makes the decision to go abroad?
Why is the decision made? Or, what are the principal factors motivating the decision?
