Lost in translation : a case study of three Swedish food processing firms on export
In 1995 when Sweden entered the European Union (EU) conditions in the market changed. Swedish food export has increased since then but the share of total production exported is lower within the food industry compared to other production industries in Sweden (Livsmedelsföretagen, 2015). There are opp...
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| Formato: | H3 |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés sueco |
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SLU/Dept. of Economics
2016
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| Materias: |
| _version_ | 1855571499274993664 |
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| author | Svedberg, Malin |
| author_browse | Svedberg, Malin |
| author_facet | Svedberg, Malin |
| author_sort | Svedberg, Malin |
| collection | Epsilon Archive for Student Projects |
| description | In 1995 when Sweden entered the European Union (EU) conditions in the market changed. Swedish food export has increased since then but the share of total production exported is lower within the food industry compared to other production industries in Sweden (Livsmedelsföretagen, 2015). There are opportunities to explore but also challenges and research shows that food in particular is hard to transfer since it is highly integrated in a culture (Azar, 2014, Buisson, 1995 and Ghemawat, 2001). This case study has been conducted in order to understand what opportunities and challenges Swedish food processing firms encounter in foreign markets. The aim of this study is to develop an understanding of the perceived opportunities and challenges that Swedish food processing encounter when communicating values embodied in their products in export markets. These values are attributes that are hard or even impossible to evaluate before and after consumption like organic and sustainable production and refered to as credence attributes (de Chernatony et al, 2000 and Lindh & Olsson, 2010). Three firms have been studied and firm representatives have been interviewed. A theoretical framework built on theories of internationalization, psychic distance, added value, asymmetric information and communication for brand perception is presented and used to explain empirical findings. This study shows that firms have challenges when communicating credence attributes in the domestic and foreign markets. Depending on who the receiver is, more or less of information can be communicated, where awareness and knowledge are the two fundamental aspects that reduces the challenges. Technical production methods are more suited for verbal communication where there is time and opportunities for questions. This study further shows that contacts within a network are more influencial than psychic distance when new export markets are evaluated. |
| format | H3 |
| id | RepoSLU9321 |
| institution | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences |
| language | Inglés swe |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publishDateSort | 2016 |
| publisher | SLU/Dept. of Economics |
| publisherStr | SLU/Dept. of Economics |
| record_format | eprints |
| spelling | RepoSLU93212016-08-08T09:32:32Z Lost in translation : a case study of three Swedish food processing firms on export Svedberg, Malin asymmetric information credence attributes communication export internationalization psychic distance In 1995 when Sweden entered the European Union (EU) conditions in the market changed. Swedish food export has increased since then but the share of total production exported is lower within the food industry compared to other production industries in Sweden (Livsmedelsföretagen, 2015). There are opportunities to explore but also challenges and research shows that food in particular is hard to transfer since it is highly integrated in a culture (Azar, 2014, Buisson, 1995 and Ghemawat, 2001). This case study has been conducted in order to understand what opportunities and challenges Swedish food processing firms encounter in foreign markets. The aim of this study is to develop an understanding of the perceived opportunities and challenges that Swedish food processing encounter when communicating values embodied in their products in export markets. These values are attributes that are hard or even impossible to evaluate before and after consumption like organic and sustainable production and refered to as credence attributes (de Chernatony et al, 2000 and Lindh & Olsson, 2010). Three firms have been studied and firm representatives have been interviewed. A theoretical framework built on theories of internationalization, psychic distance, added value, asymmetric information and communication for brand perception is presented and used to explain empirical findings. This study shows that firms have challenges when communicating credence attributes in the domestic and foreign markets. Depending on who the receiver is, more or less of information can be communicated, where awareness and knowledge are the two fundamental aspects that reduces the challenges. Technical production methods are more suited for verbal communication where there is time and opportunities for questions. This study further shows that contacts within a network are more influencial than psychic distance when new export markets are evaluated. När Sverige gick med i Europeiska Unionen 1995 förändrades förhållandena på den svenska livsmedelsmarknaden. Den svenska livsmedelsexporten har sedan inträdet konstant ökat men i jämförelse med andra tillverkningsindustier är andelen av totala produktionen lägre inom livsmedelsindustrin (Livsmedelsföretagen, 2015). Detta visar på att det finns möjligheter att utforska för företag men även utmaningar. Forskning visar att mat i synnerhet står inför utmaningar vid internationalisering då den ofta är starkt integrerad i vår kultur (Azar, 2014, Buisson, 1995 and Ghemawat, 2001). Denna fallstudie har genomförts för att förstå vilka möjligheter och utmaningar svenska livsmedelsföretag möter i kommunikationen av mervärden på marknader utanför den inhemska. Dessa mervärden innefattar värden som inte syns eller går att avgöra innan eller efter konsumtion, till exempel ekologisk eller hållbar produktion (de Chernatony et al, 2000 och Lindh & Olsson, 2010). Tre företag har studerats och företagsrepresentanter har intervjuats för att få en insikt i hur de tänker kring dessa frågor. Teorikapitlet är uppbyggt kring begreppen internationalisering, psykiskt avstånd, mervärden, assymmetrisk information och kommunikation för varumärkesuppfattning. Detta kapitel ligger sedan till grund till analysen där de empiriska iakttagelserna förklaras. Studien visar att företag har problem vid kommunikation av mervärden på den inhemska marknaden och på internationella marknader. Beroende på mottagare kan informationsmängden variera och det är framför allt medvetenhet och kunskap som påverkar utmaningen. Tekniska produktionsmetoder är mer lämpade för verbal kommunikation där det finns utrymme för tid och frågor. Studien visar även att kontakter inom ett nätverk är mer betydelsefulla än det psykiska avståndet när nya exportmarknader utvärderas. SLU/Dept. of Economics 2016 H3 eng swe https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/9321/ |
| spellingShingle | asymmetric information credence attributes communication export internationalization psychic distance Svedberg, Malin Lost in translation : a case study of three Swedish food processing firms on export |
| title | Lost in translation : a case study of three Swedish food processing firms on export |
| title_full | Lost in translation : a case study of three Swedish food processing firms on export |
| title_fullStr | Lost in translation : a case study of three Swedish food processing firms on export |
| title_full_unstemmed | Lost in translation : a case study of three Swedish food processing firms on export |
| title_short | Lost in translation : a case study of three Swedish food processing firms on export |
| title_sort | lost in translation : a case study of three swedish food processing firms on export |
| topic | asymmetric information credence attributes communication export internationalization psychic distance |