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The purpose of this paper is to discuss the notion of the Liability of Outsidership (LoO) in multinational enterprises’ (MNEs) operations, following Johanson and Vahlne's (2009) revision of the Uppsala model. This study seeks to identify the sources of outsidership and the strategies used by MNEs to overcome these liabilities, providing a comprehensive overview for practitioners, academics and policymakers.

This paper studies firm-level operations and investigations of foreign direct investment by MNEs. By synthesising existing research and theoretical frameworks, this study identifies key dimensions and determinants of LoO and offers insights into its implications for international business strategy. This paper’s approach ensures a holistic understanding of the concept, drawing from diverse sources to present a well-rounded perspective.

This study reveals two broad themes in the literature: firm-specific factors, such as market entry decisions, managerial attributes and business nature, and country-specific factors, including economic, social and political conditions. The authors highlight critical insights into these factors and identify successful strategies that MNEs use to become embedded in local networks.

The insights from this study will aid academics and researchers in gaining a comprehensive understanding of the LoO and identifying future research directions. Additionally, this study will assist MNE leaders and managers in understanding the key dynamics of foreign markets and the critical factors to consider in their internationalisation strategies.

This study discusses LoO in MNEs by offering a holistic overview to identify the sources of outsidership and the strategies used by MNEs to overcome these liabilities. This paper highlights key gaps and areas for future research and proposes practical strategies that MNEs can adopt to overcome outsidership, thereby serving as a valuable resource for both practitioners and policymakers.

A surge in demand for ethical products, including cruelty-free products, has been well documented in recent years, with direct ramifications for businesses. This trend towards ethical consumption seemed to be swiftly replicated in Eastern countries, especially in South Asian nations, as a result of westernisation. Based on the theory of planned behaviour and the concept of the attitude-behaviour gap, this study aims to investigate the impact of westernisation on the purchase intention of cruelty-free cosmetic products.

A positivist research paradigm was utilised in this study. Accordingly, an online self-administered questionnaire was shared among 242 consumers of cosmetic products in Sri Lanka in order to collect responses. The statistical techniques of correlation analysis, the Sobel test and moderator regression analysis have been utilised in this study.

It was found that there seems to be a positive impact of westernisation and the cruelty-free purchase intention of consumers. Moreover, consumer empowerment appears to mediate this relationship, while the attitude behaviour gap tends to further impact the relationship between consumer empowerment and the purchase intention of cruelty-free products.

This study seems to shed light upon the impact of westernisation on the purchase intention of consumers, especially from an ethical dimension and this study is likely to extend existing studies which have focussed on consumer empowerment, attitude-behaviour gap as well as the theory of planned behaviour, especially in the context of South Asia, where there seems to be a dearth of such investigations. Moreover, this study has attempted to contextualise the construct of “Westernisation” to the South Asian region in line with the tone set by an editorial article Dewasiri et al. (2021).