The impact of marketing research activity on SME export performance: Evidence from the UK

This article explores the relationship between the collection and use of export marketing research on the one hand, and export performance on the other. Building on the conceptual base provided by the literature on the centrality of information to the implementation of the marketing concept and by extension to marketing performance, the article develops a framework for studying export marketing research activity. The data were collected by means of a mail questionnaire, and the results from 50 UK exporting SMEs suggest that the nature of the information elements collected, the research vehicle used for their collection, and the use made of these elements are related to levels of export performance.