International product adaptation and performance : a systematic analysis of the literature and agenda for future research

Abstract

There is a lack of consensus on what the international product adaptation (IPA) concept involves, and only a partial understanding of its outcomes. Our analysis of the IPA-performance link uncovers, for the first time, the multidimensional nature of IPA. We show how the operational approaches used to explore IPA change its meaning across studies, demonstrate that IPA has different impacts across performance types, and highlight the range of mechanisms governing IPA’s performance relationships. We present a set of issues that need to be accounted for to build a better theory of IPA’s performance consequences, and a roadmap for future research.