The self-reference criterion revisited : toward an alternative conceptualisation

Abstract

International marketing often requires business adaptation by marketers at both a strategic and a tactical level. The self-reference criterion is frequently cited as an aspect that requires attention when formulating and implementing an international marketing strategy, but this construct has seen little development in the literature since it was first proposed. The purpose of this paper is to reconceptualize the self-reference criterion as an aptitude encompassing previously overlooked components of perspective-taking. A conceptual approach to theoretical model generation is adopted. The paper conceptualizes Self-Reference Criteria (SRC) as a perspective-taking aptitude described as a formative two-dimensional construct consisting of a cognitive perspective-taking ability and motivational perspective-taking propensity. The perspective-taking construct is further elaborated within aptitude complex theory to take personal, situational, and output effects into account allowing for a theoretical model to be proposed. The proposed model builds on the original SRC by proposing its reconceptualization as a perspective-taking aptitude construct. This offers the possibility of understanding and undertaking more effective business adaptations necessitated by managers as they face the challenge of marketing strategy formulation and implementation in nondomestic markets.