PurposeThe paper aims to explore the influential path of internet marketing capabilities impacting international market performance. The paper further investigates the mitigating roles of market- and entrepreneurial-oriented behaviors and knowledge internalization in this relationship. The effect of internet use for customer management on internet marketing capabilities is also examined.Design/methodology/approachA total of 618 firms with sales in international markets were approached to participate. Data were collected from a sample of 132 Taiwanese firms and analyzed using a structural equation model.FindingsUse of internet for customer management positively influences internet marketing capabilities. The results also support the positive impacts of internet marketing capabilities on market- and entrepreneurial-oriented behaviors. Knowledge internalization mediates the relationships between market- and entrepreneurial-oriented behaviors and international market performance.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper’s investigation of the role of internet marketing capability in international market performance contributes to online internationalization, strategic orientations and organizational learning theory.Practical implicationsManagers should focus on developing internet marketing capabilities in management culture and fostering market- and entrepreneurial-oriented behaviors to facilitate knowledge internalization for better international performance.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the construction of an alternative and comprehensive mechanism to understand the influences of internet marketing capabilities on the firm’s international performance.