Is a situation where firms sequentially take decisions. The first one chooses an option based on information. In the next step, firms observe this option, and as they believe that the first one is well informed, so they imitate it. In the next step, firms observe the imitators, believing they have good information and imitate them. This process repeats for a long time.
Published in Chapter:
From Systematic to Mimetic Behavior in the International Market Selection
Maria do Rosário Correia (German University in Cairo, Egypt) and Raquel Meneses (University of Porto, Portugal)
Copyright: © 2021
|Pages: 22
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-1843-4.ch008
Abstract
Traditionally, the international market selection is a systematic process, based on predefined criteria. This process is, however, very time- and cost-consuming, and only a small number of firms have sufficient resources to do it. So, according to the Uppsala Model, firms tend to internationalize to the closest markets (psychic distance), managing uncertainty in a very gradual process based on experiential knowledge. The second-hand knowledge that flows in the firm's network could help firms select the market, helping them to expand gradually. Independently from the source (experiential or second hand), knowledge seems to be a mandatory resource to internationalize. However, a lot of firms imitate other firms' behavior, selecting the international market according to others' selections, believing that they must have superior information. In this situation, firms could imitate the leader (a successful firm) or the herd (a big number of firms). This international market selection is not based on knowledge; it is a mimetic process.