The influence of Management Commitment on Inward Export Performance in Higher Education: Mediating Role of People Marketing Mix Adaptation

Abstract

Export marketing mix enables an organization to fulfill its goals in target markets and respond to market forces. In successful marketing services, adaptations/standardization strategies in different cultures should be demonstrated. However, the adaptation of marketing mix strategy in the service industry has been the subject of limited study. This paper aims to examine how the management commitment and people marketing mix adaptation can influence export performance in the context of higher education. Questionnaires were collected from 140 Malaysian higher education institutions. Partial least square–structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique was utilised to investigate the relationship of constructs. The main results indicated that the people marketing mix adaptation mediates the association between management commitment and higher education export performance. This study addresses the gap related to the understanding of inward export performance and export marketing in the service industry and higher education internationalisation. The findings of this study may help export marketing managers to enhance performance in higher education institutions. Future studies need to improve the theoretical model by testing other elements in the export marketing mix in the higher education industry.