 Social support abroad: How do self-initiated expatriates gain support through their social networks?Annamaria Kubovcikova and Marian van Bakel International Business Review, 2022, vol. 31, issue 1 Abstract: On arrival, expatriates need to establish new social ties in order to succeed in the host country. In this study, we are investigating the social networks of self-initiated expatriates, focusing on the process of how they source social support. Building on information seeking theory, we have created a model connecting specific characteristics of network members (host country knowledge, employment status and host country origin) with the frequency of contact and support they provide. The model was tested through multilevel mediation analysis on 165 expatriates and their 575 network members. We contribute to the existing knowledge on expatriate networks by a theoretically driven categorization of network members and a detailed empirical analysis on the level of a relationship/tie. Our results show that expatriates rely on different network members for different types of support. Practical implications include the use of mentors to facilitate expatriate access to higher status individuals who can offer important support. Keywords: Expatriation; Global mobility; HCN; Multilevel; Social support (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:iburev:v:31:y:2022:i:1:s0969593121001062 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1016/j.ibusrev.2021.101894 Access Statistics for this article International Business Review is currently edited by P. Ghauri More articles in International Business Review from Elsevier |
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