International Entrepreneurs and its market selection strategies: A framework based on market distance and market attractiveness

In the context of International Entrepreneurship, every entrepreneur will be facing the challenge to choose the “ideal” market out of more than 180 possibilities. In the areas of general market selection and market entry opportunities a lot of research has been done in recent decades. Different approaches were developed and evaluated in different markets, and also applied in cases in all kind of industries. A number of well-known frameworks were developed, like e.g. Uppsala, waterfall, sprinkler, born global, etc.

But there is one area in particular, in which there was not so much research done — the area of international entrepreneurship. This is notable, since the area is very different from general internationalization. In the context of international entrepreneurship, the concept of psychological market distance seems to play an essential role. In this paper a new framework will be introduced, which is based on two dimensions, one is the psychological market distance and other one is market attractiveness. This framework has been developed for helping the entrepreneurs better to structure their strategical planning for their market selection and to avoid or reduce risks and uncertainties systematically. According to the framework the strategies of several best practice international entrepreneurs are discussed and analyzed. Finally, implications for other international entrepreneurs are developed.