THE IMPACT OF ICT USE IN PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES ON EXPORT PERFORMANCE: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION

Abstract

The integration of ICT into promotion activities in international markets where competition is intense may offer great advantages to the enterprises on the basis of brand and cost. From this point of view the objective of the current study is to empirically examine (i) the impact of the use of ICT in promotional activities on brand advantage and cost advantage and (ii) the impact of brand advantage and cost advantage on export performance. The data that were collected from 188 exporter companies from Turkey with the help of a structured questionnaire were statistically analyzed by using the SmartPLS 3.0 software. The results reveal that promotional activities using ICT have a strong and positive effect on brand advantage and low cost advantage, while there is no significant direct effect on export performance. The results also reveal that brand advantage and low cost advantage significantly affect export performance.