Online Reputation for Food Sector Exporters in the B2B Context: The Importance of Sustainability

Abstract

Food exporting companies play a fundamental role in the development of international trade. However, the conceptualization and measurement of their online corporate reputation has not been extensively studied in Business to Business markets, unlike in Business to Consumer contexts. The aim of this research is to identify the variables that determine the online reputation of food companies operating in B2B markets, and to analyze their relationship with the volume of food exports. For this purpose, a three-stage quantitative and qualitative study has been developed, based on in-depth interviews with experts from export organizations and managers of Peruvian food exporting companies, the estimation of an Advanced Sentiment Analysis, the construction of a Total Online Reputation Index (TOR), and the development of regression analysis. The study has identified 13 variables that affect the online reputation of food exporting companies and indicates that the presence of sustainability content on their website and the number of pages visited positively affect the volume of food exports. Moreover, the TOR could have a significant explanatory capacity with respect to company exports. These results constitute a reference guide for both companies in the sector and official export agencies, highlighting the critical aspects to promote their exports.

Keywords

• agri-food exports
• online reputation
• business to business
• sentiment analysis
• sustainability
• certifications