E-Commerce Marketing, Market Orientation and Adaptation Strategy on SMEs’ Export Performance: The Role of Free Trade Agreement Utilization

This study analyzes the effect of free trade agreement utilization (FTAU) capability, integrating with firms’ adaptation strategy, e-commerce marketing capabilities (ECM) on export performance (EP) of export market-oriented (MOR) SMEs in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. Based on dynamic capabilities theory and institution-based view, the study validates a research model using survey data from 318 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), collected through convenience and snowball procedures and analyzed using SmartPLS 4. The findings reveal that FTAU significantly affects EP along with ECM and MOR. Additionally, the three factors ECM, MOR, and ADP positively affect FTAU, leading to EP. While FTAU moderates MOR-EP, it has no contingent impact on ECM-EP. This study contributes to international business literature by providing empirical evidence of how FTA utilization and its interaction with firm capabilities affect SMEs’ EP. It also offers context-relevant implications for SMEs and policymakers seeking to improve FTA utilization in resource-constrained export settings.