Food Culture Distance: An Antecedent to Export Marketing Strategy Adaptation - An Empirical Examination of Swedish and Finnish Food Processing Companies

This study explores dissimilarity in food culture (food culture distance) as an antecedent to the adaptation of export marketing strategy for food products, and examines the impact of marketing program adaptation on export performance. Building on previous research, this paper introduces a model for operationalizing the construct food culture distance. Data were gathered via a mail survey of Swedish and Finnish food exporters. The results indicate a significant correlation between food culture distance and the extent of product adaptation. However, product adaptation does not affect export performance, implying that other factors, along with marketing strategy, may influence export performance.