Marketing exploitation and exploration in export companies: The moderating effect of organisational formalisation

Purpose: This study investigated the roles of marketing exploitation and exploration as strategies in export companies and examines how the organisational formalisation influences their impacts on export performance. Design/methodology/approach: To test the hypotheses, the study conducted surveys on 150 large export companies in China. A regression analysis, including interaction terms to both, has been conducted to test the main effect, the impact of marketing exploitation and marketing exploration on export performance and the moderation effect of organisational formalisation. Findings/results: Empirically, results show that marketing exploitation and marketing exploration are positively related to export performance, which indicate the importance of both marketing strategies in the global market. Further, the effects of marketing exploitation and exploration are contingent on organisational formalisation. Specifically, the results reveal that organisational formalisation has an inverted U-shaped moderation effect on the relationship between marketing exploitation and export performance but a U-shaped moderation effect on the relationship between marketing exploration and export performance. Practical implications: This study provides valuable implications for the exporters on how to enhance performance. In terms of strategy planning, both marketing exploitation and exploration strategies are vital to the export performance. Moreover, managers should align their exploitation-exploration strategies with formalisation. Originality/value: This study contributes to the marketing ambidexterity theory and international marketing strategy related theory by illustrating the vital role of organisational formalisation in shaping the efficacy of exploitative and explorative strategies in the export market.