IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/intman/v26y2020i3s1075425319304910.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cognitive biases in the perceptions of country distance

Author

Listed:
  • Nebus, James
  • Celo, Sokol

Abstract

One IB research stream on country distance supports that distance is influenced by the observers' perceptions, which reflect their unique experiences, as working abroad and cultural background. This study on distance perception is different but complements previous research, as we focus on certain systemic biases in perception that are inherent in fundamental human thinking processes when judging similarity. We build on cognitive psychology research, which shows these biases stem from mental shortcuts and heuristics, which people are prone to take in certain circumstances. We test our theory by conducting three experiments. First, we examine a different source of country distance asymmetry due to the fact that one of the countries in a pair is more salient. Second, we propose that context affects country similarity in that distance depends not only on the characteristics of the two countries being compared, but also other countries under consideration. Third, we challenge the notion that perceptions of country similarity and dissimilarity are exact opposites. We argue that ‘distance’ between two countries is a function of the number and salience of characteristics that two countries have in common, or similarity, and those features that are in one country but not in the other, or dissimilarity.

Suggested Citation

  • Nebus, James & Celo, Sokol, 2020. "Cognitive biases in the perceptions of country distance," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 26(3).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:intman:v:26:y:2020:i:3:s1075425319304910
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intman.2020.100774
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1075425319304910
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.intman.2020.100774?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Srilata Zaheer & Margaret Spring Schomaker & Lilach Nachum, 2012. "Distance without direction: Restoring credibility to a much-loved construct," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 43(1), pages 18-27, January.
    2. Oded Shenkar, 2001. "Cultural Distance Revisited: Towards a More Rigorous Conceptualization and Measurement of Cultural Differences," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 32(3), pages 519-535, September.
    3. Ronald K. Mitchell & J. Brock Smith & Eric A. Morse & Kristie W. Seawright & Ana Maria Peredo & Brian McKenzie, 2002. "Are Entrepreneurial Cognitions Universal? Assessing Entrepreneurial Cognitions across Cultures," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 26(4), pages 9-32, July.
    4. James R. MARKUSEN, 2021. "Multinationals, Multi-Plant Economies, And The Gains From Trade," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: BROADENING TRADE THEORY Incorporating Market Realities into Traditional Models, chapter 1, pages 3-24, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    5. Klaus E Meyer & Arjen Witteloostuijn & Sjoerd Beugelsdijk, 2017. "What’s in a p? Reassessing best practices for conducting and reporting hypothesis-testing research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(5), pages 535-551, July.
    6. Elizabeth Maitland & André Sammartino, 2015. "Managerial cognition and internationalization," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 46(7), pages 733-760, September.
    7. Ambos, Björn & Håkanson, Lars, 2014. "The Concept of Distance in International Management Research," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 1-7.
    8. Chapman, Malcolm & Gajewska-De Mattos, Hanna & Clegg, Jeremy & Jennings Buckley, Peter, 2008. "Close neighbours and distant friends--perceptions of cultural distance," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 217-234, June.
    9. John H. Dunning, 1977. "Trade, Location of Economic Activity and the MNE: A Search for an Eclectic Approach," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Bertil Ohlin & Per-Ove Hesselborn & Per Magnus Wijkman (ed.), The International Allocation of Economic Activity, chapter 12, pages 395-418, Palgrave Macmillan.
    10. Jan Johanson & Jan-Erik Vahlne, 1977. "The Internationalization Process of the Firm—A Model of Knowledge Development and Increasing Foreign Market Commitments," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 8(1), pages 23-32, March.
    11. Jody Evans & Felix T Mavondo, 2002. "Psychic Distance and Organizational Performance: An Empirical Examination of International Retailing Operations," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 33(3), pages 515-532, September.
    12. H Emre Yildiz & Carl F Fey, 2016. "Are the extent and effect of psychic distance perceptions symmetrical in cross-border M&As? Evidence from a two-country study," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 47(7), pages 830-857, September.
    13. Leamer, E.E., 1995. "The Heckscher-Ohlin Model in Theory and Practice," Princeton Studies in International Economics 77, International Economics Section, Departement of Economics Princeton University,.
    14. Bruce Kogut & Harbir Singh, 1988. "The Effect of National Culture on the Choice of Entry Mode," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 19(3), pages 411-432, September.
    15. Jean-François Hennart, 2007. "The theoretical rationale for a multinationality-performance relationship," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 423-452, June.
    16. McGrath, Rita Gunther & MacMillan, Ian C., 1992. "More like each other than anyone else? A cross-cultural study of entrepreneurial perceptions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 7(5), pages 419-429, September.
    17. Håkanson, Lars & Ambos, Björn, 2010. "The antecedents of psychic distance," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 195-210, September.
    18. Taras, Vas & Rowney, Julie & Steel, Piers, 2009. "Half a century of measuring culture: Review of approaches, challenges, and limitations based on the analysis of 121 instruments for quantifying culture," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 357-373, December.
    19. Laszlo Tihanyi & David A Griffith & Craig J Russell, 2005. "The effect of cultural distance on entry mode choice, international diversification, and MNE performance: a meta-analysis," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 36(3), pages 270-283, May.
    20. Bradley L Kirkman & Kevin B Lowe & Cristina B Gibson, 2006. "A quarter century of Culture's Consequences: a review of empirical research incorporating Hofstede's cultural values framework," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(3), pages 285-320, May.
    21. Sjoerd Beugelsdijk & Björn Ambos & Phillip C Nell, 2018. "Conceptualizing and measuring distance in international business research: Recurring questions and best practice guidelines," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(9), pages 1113-1137, December.
    22. Slangen, Arjen H.L. & van Tulder, Rob J.M., 2009. "Cultural distance, political risk, or governance quality? Towards a more accurate conceptualization and measurement of external uncertainty in foreign entry mode research," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 276-291, June.
    23. Ilya R P Cuypers & Gokhan Ertug & Pursey P M A R Heugens & Bruce Kogut & Tengjian Zou, 2018. "The making of a construct: Lessons from 30 years of the Kogut and Singh cultural distance index," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(9), pages 1138-1153, December.
    24. Helpman, Elhanan, 1984. "A Simple Theory of International Trade with Multinational Corporations," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 92(3), pages 451-471, June.
    25. Drogendijk, Rian & Slangen, Arjen, 2006. "Hofstede, Schwartz, or managerial perceptions? The effects of different cultural distance measures on establishment mode choices by multinational enterprises," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 361-380, August.
    26. Håkanson, Lars & Ambos, Björn & Schuster, Anja & Leicht-Deobald, Ulrich, 2016. "The psychology of psychic distance: Antecedents of asymmetric perceptions," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 308-318.
    27. Peter J Buckley & Timothy M Devinney & Jordan J Louviere, 2007. "Do managers behave the way theory suggests? A choice-theoretic examination of foreign direct investment location decision-making," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 38(7), pages 1069-1094, December.
    28. Daniel Bello & Kwok Leung & Lee Radebaugh & Rosalie L Tung & Arjen van Witteloostuijn, 2009. "From the Editors: Student samples in international business research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 40(3), pages 361-364, April.
    29. McGrath, Rita Gunther & MacMillan, Ian C. & Scheinberg, Sari, 1992. "Elitists, risk-takers, and rugged individualists? An exploratory analysis of cultural differences between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 115-135, March.
    30. Ambos, Bjoern & Leicht-Deobald, Ulrich & Leinemann, Alexander, 2019. "Understanding the formation of psychic distance perceptions: Are country-level or individual-level factors more important?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 660-671.
    31. Douglas Dow & Amal Karunaratna, 2006. "Developing a multidimensional instrument to measure psychic distance stimuli," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(5), pages 578-602, September.
    32. David M Brock & Oded Shenkar & Amir Shoham & Ilene C Siscovick, 2008. "National culture and expatriate deployment," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 39(8), pages 1293-1309, December.
    33. William Ocasio, 1997. "Towards An Attention‐Based View Of The Firm," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(S1), pages 187-206, July.
    34. Heather Berry & Mauro F Guillén & Nan Zhou, 2010. "An institutional approach to cross-national distance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(9), pages 1460-1480, December.
    35. Oded Shenkar, 2012. "Beyond cultural distance: Switching to a friction lens in the study of cultural differences," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 43(1), pages 12-17, January.
    36. Piero Morosini & Scott Shane & Harbir Singh, 1998. "National Cultural Distance and Cross-Border Acquisition Performance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 29(1), pages 137-158, March.
    37. Goudarz Azar & Rian Drogendijk, 2019. "Ex-post Performance Implications of Divergence of Managers’ Perceptions of ‘Distance’ From ‘Reality’ in International Business," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 59(1), pages 67-92, February.
    38. Mary Zellmer-Bruhn & Paula Caligiuri & David C Thomas, 2016. "From the Editors: Experimental designs in international business research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 47(4), pages 399-407, May.
    39. Jiatao Li & Stephen Guisinger, 1992. "The Globalization of Service Multinationals in the “Triad” Regions: Japan, Western Europe and North America," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 23(4), pages 675-696, December.
    40. Daniel W Baack & Douglas Dow & Ronaldo Parente & Donald R Bacon, 2015. "Confirmation bias in individual-level perceptions of psychic distance: An experimental investigation," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 46(8), pages 938-959, October.
    41. Anderson, James E, 1979. "A Theoretical Foundation for the Gravity Equation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 69(1), pages 106-116, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Qiu & Clegg, Jeremy & Mattos, Hanna Gajewska-De & Buckley, Peter J., 2023. "It’s personal: The emotional dimension of psychic distance perception in intercultural knowledge transfer," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(5).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Weber, Clarissa E. & Chahabadi, Dominik & Maurer, Indre, 2020. "Antecedents and performance effect of managerial misperception of institutional differences," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(1).
    2. Goudarz Azar & Rian Drogendijk, 2019. "Ex-post Performance Implications of Divergence of Managers’ Perceptions of ‘Distance’ From ‘Reality’ in International Business," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 59(1), pages 67-92, February.
    3. H Emre Yildiz & Carl F Fey, 2016. "Are the extent and effect of psychic distance perceptions symmetrical in cross-border M&As? Evidence from a two-country study," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 47(7), pages 830-857, September.
    4. Sjoerd Beugelsdijk & Björn Ambos & Phillip C Nell, 2018. "Conceptualizing and measuring distance in international business research: Recurring questions and best practice guidelines," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(9), pages 1113-1137, December.
    5. Drogendijk, Rian & Martín Martín, Oscar, 2015. "Relevant dimensions and contextual weights of distance in international business decisions: Evidence from Spanish and Chinese outward FDI," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 133-147.
    6. Magnani, Giovanna & Zucchella, Antonella & Floriani, Dinorá Eliete, 2018. "The logic behind foreign market selection: Objective distance dimensions vs. strategic objectives and psychic distance," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 1-20.
    7. Nebus, James & Chai, Kah Hin, 2014. "Putting the “psychic” Back in Psychic Distance: Awareness, Perceptions, and Understanding as Dimensions of Psychic Distance," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 8-24.
    8. Wang, Qiu & Clegg, Jeremy & Mattos, Hanna Gajewska-De & Buckley, Peter J., 2023. "It’s personal: The emotional dimension of psychic distance perception in intercultural knowledge transfer," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(5).
    9. Srivastava, Saurabh & Singh, Shiwangi & Dhir, Sanjay, 2020. "Culture and International business research: A review and research agenda," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(4).
    10. Trąpczyński, Piotr & Halaszovich, Tilo F. & Piaskowska, Dorota, 2020. "The role of perceived institutional distance in foreign ownership level decisions of new MNEs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 435-449.
    11. Sjoerd Beugelsdijk & Tatiana Kostova & Vincent E. Kunst & Ettore Spadafora & Marc van Essen, 2018. "Cultural Distance and Firm Internationalization," Post-Print hal-02312065, HAL.
    12. Yeganeh, Hamid, 2014. "A Weighted, Mahalanobian, and Asymmetrical Approach to Calculating National Cultural Distance," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 436-463.
    13. Oded Shenkar & Stephen B Tallman & Hao Wang & Jie Wu, 2022. "National culture and international business: A path forward," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(3), pages 516-533, April.
    14. Giovanna Magnani & Antonella Zucchella & Dinorà Eliete Floriani, 2015. "Relativity and asymmetry in distance. The role of strategic distance in the internationalization decisions of Brazilian and Italian firms," DEM Working Papers Series 111, University of Pavia, Department of Economics and Management.
    15. Håkanson, Lars & Ambos, Björn & Schuster, Anja & Leicht-Deobald, Ulrich, 2016. "The psychology of psychic distance: Antecedents of asymmetric perceptions," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 308-318.
    16. Robbert Maseland & Douglas Dow & Piers Steel, 2018. "The Kogut and Singh national cultural distance index: Time to start using it as a springboard rather than a crutch," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(9), pages 1154-1166, December.
    17. Palitha Konara & Alexander Mohr, 2019. "Why We Should Stop Using the Kogut and Singh Index," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 335-354, June.
    18. Conti, Claudio Ramos & Parente, Ronaldo & de Vasconcelos, Flávio C., 2016. "When distance does not matter: Implications for Latin American multinationals," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(6), pages 1980-1992.
    19. Lazarova, Mila & Peretz, Hilla & Fried, Yitzhak, 2017. "Locals know best? Subsidiary HR autonomy and subsidiary performance," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 83-96.
    20. Daniel R Clark & Dan Li & Dean A Shepherd, 2018. "Country familiarity in the initial stage of foreign market selection," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(4), pages 442-472, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:intman:v:26:y:2020:i:3:s1075425319304910. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/601266/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.