Understanding cultural sensemaking of business interaction: A research model

•We investigate how culture could be studied in business marketing research.•We apply a constructivist perspective on intercultural business interaction.•A model for understanding cultural sensemaking of business interaction is proposed.•The model combines a sensemaking approach with narrative and metaphor analysis.

This methodological paper proposes a research model for understanding individual-level cultural sensemaking as regards business interaction in international business-to-business relationships. Culture is treated as knowledge inherited and learned by individuals through their lived experiences and learning in various cultural contexts. The developed research model integrates three complementary methods a sensemaking perspective, narrative research, and a metaphor analysis. Making sense of interpersonal business-to-business interactions rests on talk and meaning making, which represents itself as a process through narrative stories with plots. This narrative form is a basic sensemaking device, in which metaphor analysis is helpful in uncovering underlying cultural meanings. The paper concludes with a critical evaluation of the introduced 'cultural sense-translation' model, including avenues for further research and implications for practice.