Research on firm's intention to engage in exporting activity: the case of wine production sector

Abstract

This PhD thesis aims to investigate the export intention of manager-owners in the Greek wine sector by combining Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior and Schwartz's Theory of Values after identifying the gaps in the relevant literature. The thesis is timely due to the ongoing globalization of markets and companies' internationalization efforts. Also, exporting activity is a topic that still interests researchers. This thesis has six research objectives. The first is to examine personal values' influence on export intention's antecedents. The second is to examine whether the main elements of the Theory of Planned Behavior, i.e., Attitude, Subjective Norms and Perceived Behavioural Control, influence export intention. The third objective is to verify that the combination of Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior with selected constructs of Schwartz's Theory of Values is supported by empirical evidence concerning export intention. The fourth objective is determining which of the Theory of Planned Behavior constructs mainly affects export intention. The fifth objective is to compare how the exporters and non-exporters differ based on their answers. The final objective is to provide insights to researchers concerning integrating two theories proposed by the theoretical framework about the managerial intentions and to policymakers on constructing public incentives to enhance the exporting performance of wine production companies. A comprehensive literature review underpinned the achievement of the research objectives. This review delved into both the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Theory of Personal Values, as well as the export determinants, ensuring that the thesis is built on a solid foundation of existing knowledge. After identifying the research gaps, determining the thesis objectives, and formulating the research questions, the research methodology was decided upon. The research paradigm embraces the positivism philosophy, which is suitable for management studies. Positivism starts with an already established theory (in this research, the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Theory of Values) and then generates the hypothesis to be tested. A deductive approach guided the design of this research by collecting the relevant data to measure and analyze the variables. The strategy adopted is the cross-sectional study, which examines the wine producer's intentions to export to Greece in 2022. The research was conducted using questionnaires sent via electronic survey to the managers/owners of wine-producing companies. The sample consists of 210 fully answered questionnaires. The responses were then fed into SPSS for statistical analysis. The empirical data analysis confirms that the Theory of Planned Behavior can be extended and integrated with the Theory of Values. Values like Power, Tradition, Stimulation, and Benevolence influence attitudes concerning exports. Tradition influences subjective norms, and Tradition and Benevolence influence perceived behavioural control. Thus, personal values influence all the antecedents of the Theory of Planned Behavior. Furthermore, the analysis revealed that the Theory of Planned Behavior has both explanatory and predictive value. Among the three pillars that constitute the theory (attitude, subjective norms, and perceived control), perceived control has the most significant influence on managers' intention to export. The study's theoretical contribution to the international management research literature is that it proposes a cognitive process model integrating personal values to investigate attitudes, norms, and perceived control of behaviour in entrepreneurial intention to export.