Exploring Social Media Use in Cross-Border E-Commerce and the Internationalization Process: A Comparative Study of Cross-Country and Firm Size

Abstract

Prior research on social media has considerably advanced our understanding of how social media use affects international market performance. However, extant social media literature has not addressed why social media use stimulates positive results in modern cross-border e-commerce and how it evolves in the internationalization process. Overlooking the role of social media use in the above issues has limited our understanding of international business management. Drawing on the Uppsala model, this study used the case study method in the form of a cross-country comparative study including six large enterprises (LEs) and six small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from Germany, Thailand, and Taiwan, respectively. The results provide compelling evidence that the way of using social media significantly differs in cross-border e-commerce among countries, while the main internationalization process differs fundamentally between LEs and SMEs. As such, this study provides novel theoretical insights to scholars and empirical implications to practitioners.