Country Familiarity: Three Essays on Entrepreneur Foreign Market Selection

Abstract

Entrepreneurs employ their country familiarity as a cognitive heuristic to help them cope with the cognitively demanding task of selecting an internationalization destination. Country familiarity consists of an individual’s familiarity with a country’s institutions, markets, industry, culture, and products. Across three studies I find a general preference for familiar countries; however, in certain cases high familiarity can produce spontaneous recollections that lower this preference (inverted-U curvilinear). The influence of country familiarity is moderated by international experience, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, individual international entrepreneurial orientation, and the decision-maker’s cognitive style. My research furthers understanding of how entrepreneur internationalization decision-making.