Ongoing Import Motivation: The Relevance of Level of Import Development

As opposed to the plethora of studies on firms’ exporting activities, scant empirical attention has been devoted to the import side of the international exchange process. Following a review of the international purchasing literature, the focus of this study is an investigation of import stimuli of U.K. distributor firms trading with exporting manufacturers from the U.S.A. More specifically, an attempt is made, firstly, to investigate the existence of possible dimensions underlying ongoing import motivators and, secondly, to examine potentially significant differences in perceptions of such motives between two distinct importer categories in terms of import development. The study results highlight the critical role which management plays in stimulating ongoing import engagement, together with the magnitude of certain supplier policy aspects concerning product characteristics, competitive pricing, and relationship capabilities. The findings also indicate the presence of significant differences in the current motivation patterns between the groups of regular and sporadic importers. The present findings have important implications for export business practitioners and public policy administrators in the U.S.A., as well as for future research directions in the field.