Abstract

The aim of this paper is to empirically examine the role of export intermediary firms (EIFs) based on structural equation modeling (SEM) for the unified global economic structure. E-business based export intermediary firms (e-EIFs) have experienced the systematic and professional paradigm shift. For this paradigm shift, we propose two hypotheses: the knowledge hypothesis for the traditional EIFs about the market and products and the new, but mostly supporting, hypothesis for the e-EIFs about cyber trust or credibility. The empirical tests conclude that, as an e-EIF’s traditional knowledge of exporting markets and products and the web-credibility of its own title with brand increases, purchase intention increases as well. It also concludes that the professional support provided by e-EIFs could reduce both the practical barriers of traditional marketing and psychological ones for integrated web marketing.

Key words: Knowledge hypothesis, credibility, exports intermediary firms, structural equation modeling (SEM), e-business management