The Effect of Internal and External Factors on Marketing Strategies and Export Performance of Thai Furniture Products

Abstract

The objectives of this research are to (1) investigate the factors influencing export performance; (2) examine the nature of export performance; (3) investigate the factors influencing marketing strategies; and (4) study marketing strategies. Sampling units are 118 Thai furniture businesses exhibited their products at TIF by gathering the information from senior managers (51.7%) and business owners (48.3%). The export performance was predicted by these factors as 55.3% (R2). According to hypothesis testing, the following effects on export performance have been found. (1) Internal factors including marketing knowledge and information has a significant negative effect on export performance (Beta = - 4.01) and technical adaptability has a significant positive effect export performance (Beta = .386). (2) The effects of external factors including indirect exports (Beta = -.374) and competitors (Beta = -.291) have been found to be significantly negative on export performance, while other external factors including direct exports (Beta = .363) and customer (Beta = .360) have significant positive effects on export performance, respectively. (3) It was also found that product as a part of marketing strategies has a significant positive effect on export performance (Beta = .266). For adaptability aspect, it was found that internal factors (i.e., human resource) (Beta = .351) and external factors (i.e., competition) (Beta = .551) have positive effects on product as a part of marketing strategies.For those entrepreneurs who wish to achieve export performance, it is recommended that (1) techniques and formats of the product should be continuously modified; (2) direct export should be employed; (3) market research should be conducted to understand customers and competitive situation; (4) human resource of the company should always be developed and trained for appropriate knowledge.