Online internationalisation, psychic distance reduction and the virtuality trap

This paper examines the effects of online internationalisation on the psychic distance perceptions of internationalising firms. Building on extant internationalisation literatures and exploratory interviews, we generate four propositions positing effects of online internationalisation on psychic distance. The propositions indicate a reduction of psychic distance as a result of experience with online internationalisation. Additionally however, the possibility of a ‘virtuality trap’, essentially the online analogue of the psychic distance paradox, is also indicated.