How psychic distance and opportunity perceptions affect entrepreneurial firm internationalization

Abstract

Psychic distance, now established as an individual perceptual construct, is so far a partial explanation of internationalization processes of entrepreneurial firms. Opportunity in foreign markets, although considered important, has hitherto been an assumption rather than explored as an explanatory factor in internationalization theories. Through qualitative data from technology entrepreneurs from New Zealand this study considers opportunity, like psychic distance, as an individual perceptual construct and posits that a combination of opportunity and psychic distance perceptions better explains entrepreneurial internationalization action/intention decisions. The explicit combination proposed is “opportunity-distance quotient” and signifies a shift from psychic distance obstacles based explanations to an opportunity-psychic distance interaction based exploration of entrepreneurial internationalization. Limitations of the study and further research are discussed. Copyright © 2018 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.