High and Low Internationalization Sectors—Does the Food Industry Have a Superior or an Inferior Product Presence Profile in the Internet?

The Internet has been recognized as a powerful new information exchange and sales channel and it is expected to transform the rules of the game in international business for food products. Sufficient and adequate information related to company products is a component of fundamental importance regarding the powerful presence of a company in the web. The important question that remains to be answered though regards the profile of companies in food sectors considered as of lower internationalization compared to higher internationalization sectors. We contrasted five sectors of the lowest and five sectors of the highest internationalization. The five low internationalization industries selected were all in the food industry: preserved fruits and vegetables, dairy products, grain mill products, beverages and other food products. The five high-internationalization industries included: photographic equipment, computers, electronic components, communications equipment and motor vehicles. The 283 web-sites of companies in these sectors were evaluated (131 sites of food companies and 152 sites of companies operating in high internationalization industries) following a comprehensive procedure through the use of the Yahoo web-search engine (www.yahoo.com). The results show a statistically significant difference between high and low internationalization sectors for 14 different variables relevant to product presence in the Internet. Companies in low internationalization sectors (that is firms in food sectors) have an inferior product presence in the web compared to companies in sectors of higher internationalization. The implications for theory and management practice are analyzed and discussed.