Does market familiarity bless multinational in strategic competition?

This paper considers a competition between two multinationals (U,J) who compete in a third market (K). The multinationals have identical cost structures, but differ in that J comes from a country that is "taste-similar" to K, and hence produces products that match more closely the preferences of K residents. This similarity gives J an advantage in K's market, and if only one firm enters, J can earn higher profits. However, we show: (i) K may benefit more from the entry of the market-familiar firm (U), and (ii) in a strategic competition between the two firms, the market-familiarity may be a strategic disadvantage. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.