Role and effectiveness of international trade shows for SME internationalization; from a network perspective

Abstract

A growing number of international trade shows (ITS) have been held over the world and more interest in understanding the role and impact of ITS have raised in academic literature. ITS are regarded as an effective tool especially for small and medium sized firms (SMEs) in terms of growth and expansion their business internationally. Recent researches emphasize that ITS are more effective as a non-selling tool, such as getting information and building networks, rather than selling and promotion motives. In addition, ITS have been playing a neutral network arena that participants are interacting and building relationships for internationalization. Hence, ITS should be viewed as a network hub for participants. However, still the view of ITS as a network platform has been surprisingly neglected. The purpose of this study is to understand the role of ITS and examine the effectiveness for SME internationalization from a network approach.

Qualitative in-depth case study was conducted in this study, and semi-structured face-to-face interviews were taken with two Finnish SMEs in technology-oriented industry. The results of the study showed that ITS make an important contribution to a network hub to create and enhance relationships for SMEs, which leads to internationalization. There are three managerial implications from the research results. First, SME managers need to focus on non-selling objectives for successful ITS outcomes. Secondly, this study gives a great understanding of key elements of internationalization to SME managers based on the network model, which are actor bonding, resource ties, and activity links. From this, managers can utilize ITS for practical internationalization strategy. Last, consistency of attending major ITS is crucial for maintaining and enhancing networks.