Cultural differences in the internationalization of Bulgarian wine producers in the Asian markets

In the article the findings and recommendations from a conducted study about the effect of cultural differences in the internationalization of the Bulgarian wine producers in the Asian markets are presented. The internationalization is examined from a behavioural perspective as the primary objective is to be determined if the cultural differences exert any effect on the manager’s attitude to internationalization in Asia. It has been found a moderate impact of the cultural differences on the Bulgarian wine producer’s attitude to entering the Asian markets. Despite the found impact of the cultural differences, they are perceived by the wine producers as a not enough important factor for entering Asia. At the same time some highly significant factors, hindering the internationalization of the Bulgarian wine producers in the Asian countries, have been identified such as the low production capacity of small and medium-sized wine producers and the insufficient government support for their consolidated entry in the Asian markets. Based on the findings recommendations are made to the wine producers and the Bulgarian government authorities about facilitating the internationalization of the wine producers from Bulgaria in the Asian markets.