ABSTRACT

This paper aims at investigating the international marketing strategy of luxury small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with a focus on food SMEs operating in the luxury global niche of truffle products. The paper proposes two qualitative case studies of highly internationalized Italian luxury SMEs in the truffle industry. It discusses market selection, entry modes, and international marketing mix in foreign markets. The U.S. and Brazil are considered as emblematic international markets in the empirical investigation. The study shows the need for luxury food SMEs to implement control over the distribution channels. Trust-based relationships with commercial partners are pivotal to this purpose. Moreover, the need to educate consumers and to exploit experiential rely on peculiar promotion strategies. The paper discusses five pillars of the international marketing strategy of luxury food SMEs. Lessons learned from the truffle case can be extended to the study of other luxury SMEs’ international marketing strategies.

摘要

本文旨在研究奢侈品中小型企业（SME）的国际营销策略，重点研究在松露产品全球奢侈品市场中经营的食品SME。本文针对松露行业中高度国际化的意大利奢侈品中小型企业提出了两个定性案例研究。它讨论了国外市场的市场选择，进入模式和国际营销组合。在经验研究中，美国和巴西被视为标志性的国际市场。研究表明，奢侈品中小型企业需要实施对分销渠道的控制。与商业伙伴之间基于信任的关系对于此目的至关重要。此外，对消费者进行教育和利用体验的需求依赖于特殊的促销策略。本文讨论了奢侈品中小型企业国际营销策略的五个支柱。从松露案中汲取的教训可以扩展到对其他奢侈品中小企业的国际营销策略的研究。