Don’t stop believing: The manifestations of coopetition in export markets

Although a coopetition-oriented mind-set (belief about the importance of cooperating with competitors) is likely to drive coopetition strategies, the nuances of this relationship remain under-researched. Furthermore, coopetition has typically been investigated in domestic settings, rather than in export markets, where different opportunities and challenges are likely to exist. Thus, underpinned by resource-based theory, and focusing on smaller-sized companies, this study examines the association between an export coopetition-oriented mind-set and export coopetition strategies under key moderating effects. Survey responses were collected from 107 small wine producers in South Africa (passing all major robustness checks). As hypothesized, the results showed that an export coopetition-oriented mind-set drives export coopetition strategies. However, surprisingly, this link was positively moderated by export competitive aggressiveness, but was not significantly impacted by export competitive intensity. Consequently, unique insights emerge for academics and practitioners regarding what factors help or hinder the facilitation of coopetition activities in export markets.