Can Customer Participation Promote Supplier Green Innovation in the Social Media Environment? The Mediating Role of Green Dynamic Capability and the Moderating Role of Social Media Use

ABSTRACT

Purpose

The existing literature has emphasized the significance of guiding customers’ participation in innovation as a means for supplier enterprises to obtain innovation resources and enhance innovation performance. However, in the context of enterprise green innovation, there remains a need to investigate the impact of different forms of customer participation on supplier green innovation. Additionally, with the advent of Internet technology, numerous B2B enterprises are utilizing social media to engage with customers and foster enterprise innovation. However, the role of social media use in the relationship between customer participation and supplier green innovation has not been fully answered. Therefore, this study aims to explore the influence mechanism of customer participation on supplier enterprise green innovation in the social media environment, and to test the moderating effect of social media use.

Methodology/Approach

To achieve the research goals, a total of 500 survey questionnaires were distributed to the Chinese manufacturing enterprises industry in five province, and 338 valid questionnaires were collected. Data was analyzed using PLS-SEM modeling.

Findings

Among the three forms of customer participation, interactive information provision and online participation creation have a positive impact on enterprise green innovation. Compared with interactive information provision, the impact of online participation creation on green innovation is stronger, while user independent innovation has no significant impact on green innovation. In addition, in terms of mediating effect, green dynamic capability had a partial mediating role in the relationship between customer interactive information provision and green innovation and online participation creation and green innovation. In terms of the moderating effect, enterprise social media use had a positive moderating role in the relationship between interactive information provision and green dynamic capability and online participation creation and green dynamic capability.

Originality/Value/Contribution

This research made some important contributions. Firstly, customer participation in the social media environment is divided into three dimensions: interactive information provision, online participation creation and user independent innovation. The influence mechanism of customer participation on green innovation is further studied, and relevant literature on customer participation in innovation is enriched. Secondly, this paper empirically examines the mediating role of green dynamic capability in the relationship between customer participation and green innovation, which has received little attention in previous studies. Thirdly, the moderating effect of social media use on the influence mechanism of customer participation on green innovation is considered for the first time. On the one hand, the application of social media in the field of customer participation in innovation is promoted, and on the other hand, the understanding of the boundary mechanism between customer participation and green innovation is enhanced.

Practical implications

Enterprises should attach importance to the popularization and application of social media, and actively improve the functions of social media, guiding customers to participate in the process of enterprise green innovation by using social media platform, especially guiding customers to interactive information provision and online participation creation. In addition, in the process of guiding customer participation, enterprises should strive to cultivate their green dynamic capability, so as to make it a bridge connecting customer participation and enterprise green innovation.

KEYWORDS:

• Customer participation
• green dynamic capability
• green innovation
• social media use

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [72172147, 72202146, 72372010]