Managerial mindset effects on international marketing strategy adaptation decisions

Abstract

This research investigates how managerial implicit theories—people's implicit beliefs about the malleability of human characteristics—affect international marketing strategy adaptation decisions among B2B exporting managers. Building on mindset theory and the international marketing literature, we hypothesize that managers with a growth mindset will opt for higher levels of marketing strategy adaptation while fixed-mindset managers, who believe in the immutability of human traits, will likely standardize across markets. Across two experimental studies that manipulate mindset, we test these hypotheses and their underlying mechanism and boundary conditions. The results of Study 1 show that mindset affects lifestyle adaptation intentions for individuals in general, thus establishing the baseline relationship. Study 2 finds that business-to-business international marketing managers exposed to a growth (fixed) mindset are indeed more likely to adapt (standardize) their international marketing strategy toward foreign markets. We further show that mindset affects ambiguity tolerance, which in turn affects adaptation decisions, and that the effect of mindset is dampened (strengthened) under low (high) psychic distance conditions. This research enriches the international marketing literature by showing a managerially relevant antecedent of international marketing strategy adaptation decisions and extends implicit theory by showing a behavioral outcome of mindset.