Abstract Despite their enormous importance for value creation, marketing topics are broadly ignored in merger and acquisitions (M&A) research. Even though the internal aspects of M&A processes receive much research attention, marketing‐related integration decisions play an important role in customer retention and market expansion. In this paper, we develop a model that integrates core marketing integration decisions, intermediate goals and market expansion by considering the contingency of marketing fit. The theoretical framework was tested empirically through a sample of 82 horizontal acquisitions made by acquirers from German‐speaking countries. Our results show that there are no universally pertinent integration decisions; rather, there are important trade‐offs that, when aggregated, may explain the insignificant results achieved by commonly accepted success factors. Furthermore, intermediate goals mediate the relationship between integration decisions and market expansion. Implications for management research and practice are also discussed.
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