The Importance of Psychic Distance Factors—Geographic Distance and Differences in Mentality in the Process of Polish Companies’ Internationalization—Qualitative Research Results

Psychic distance is a concept widely used in international business and international marketing literature to assess differences in culture, economic, and political systems as well as differences in mentality and geographic distance. This paper provides insights and evidence related to the role of the chosen psychic distance stimuli (differences in mentality and geographic distance) in the decisions of managers connected with the process of Polish companies’ internationalization. The paper is based on the critical literature overview and on the field research (qualitative research) conducted on the sample of 13 Polish companies with the technique of the depth interview. The direct research allowed to answer two research questions: What are the perceptions of managers about Psychic Distance and its stimuli (differences, differences in mentality and geographic distance) between Poland and markets of foreign expansion of Polish companies? What is the impact of Psychic Distance stimuli (differences in mentality and geographic distance) on the process of Polish companies internationalization? The factors having impact on managerial perceptions of differences between countries depend on the environmental factors, companies’ characteristics, and managers’ features. The differences in mentality and geographic distance have the most significant impact on the number of countries subject to a company’s foreign expansion, the choice of directions for a company’s foreign expansion, and the choice of market entry strategy. They also influence managerial decisions about initiating business operations on international markets. There is applied a methodology stating, that psychic distance (and its stimuli) should not be measured only with the use of objective constructs and statistical data, but also with the use of subjective data, such as the responses of decision makers.