IMPACT OF THE ANTECEDENT FACTORS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF MALAYSIAN EXPORT COMPANIES

The study aimed at investigating the impact of the antecedent factors on the performance of exporting companies in Malaysia through the mediating influence of marketing mix adaptation. In order to provide deep and rich investigation, the impact of the antecedent factors on the marketing mix adaptation was examined. A questionnaire was used as the instrument of the study and the data collection procedures included self-administered questionnaires and emailed ones. The questionnaires were sent to 780 firms and 401 valid questionnaires were returned making the response rate 51.4%. Data collected were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for the purposes of descriptive statistics on the demographic characteristics of the subjects and exploratory factor analysis, while Partial Least Square (PLS) was used to determine the interactions between the various constructs for ascertaining the various structured equation models. The findings revealed that some of the antecedent factors have a significant impact on the marketing mix adaptation strategies while others seem not to have this significant impact. The study concluded with some recommendations that can be of a great use to the Malaysian exporting firms while making decisions about their exporting activities.