Ambidextrous Marketing Capabilities, Exploratory and Exploitative Market-Based Innovation, and Innovation Performance: An Empirical Study on China’s Manufacturing Sector

Abstract

Despite the acknowledged importance of innovation for enterprises’ sustainable development, in comparison to technological innovation, research on market-based innovation is still in its nascent stage. It is unclear what factors will predict market-based innovation and how market-based innovation boosts innovation performance. Therefore, based on an adaptive marketing capabilities perspective and drawing on insights from the organizational ambidexterity literature, this study explored the relationships among enterprises’ marketing capabilities, market-based innovation and innovation performance. Data collected from 237 manufacturing enterprises in China were analyzed using hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrapping methods. The results showed that: (1) Marketing capabilities and market-based innovation activities are both ambidextrous. Specifically, marketing capabilities include marketing exploration capabilities and marketing exploitation capabilities, and market-based innovation includes exploratory market-based innovation and exploitative market-based innovation. (2) Ambidextrous marketing capabilities can enhance innovation performance significantly, with ambidextrous market-based innovation playing a partial mediating role in this relationship. Specifically, marketing exploration capabilities affect innovation performance through the partial mediating role of exploratory market-based innovation, whereas marketing exploitation capabilities affect innovation performance through the partial mediating role of exploitative market-based innovation. (3) Exploratory market-based innovation negatively moderates the relationship between exploitative market-based innovation and innovation performance, and exploitative market-based innovation also exerts a negative moderating effect on the exploratory market-based innovation–innovation performance association. These findings complement and enrich the ambidextrous capability (innovation) theory, helping manufacturing enterprises to better understand and deploy ambidexterity, and hence to achieve sustainability.

Does Entrepreneurial Orientation Lead to Successful Sustainable Innovation? The Evidence from Chinese Environmentally Friendly Companies

“…To adapt to the complex and changeable environment while reconciling economic, environmental, and social goals, organizations need to explore new areas of knowledge [2,3], and this is especially true for high-tech companies, as they are increasingly inclined to adopt multiple forms of innovation. Many researchers believe organizations, to establish sustainable competitive advantages, need to become dualized and carry out both exploitation and exploration [4,5]. Exploitation enriches and expands customer value by deepening the understanding of existing assets, products, and services to provide organizations with incremental innovation opportunities.…”

Will Internet Market Newness Improve Performance? An Empirical Study on the Internet Market Innovation of Offline Retailers in China

“…Innovation refers to the introduction of new technologies, products, services, marketing concepts, systems, and management methods to stimulate a company's economic performance [13]. Innovation is generally considered as an important driving force for the success of enterprises [14,15]. Innovation is of great significance for sustainable development of enterprises [15].…”

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“…In the retail industry, the literature has shown market innovation and technological innovation as two research routes [13]. However, compared with research on technological innovation, market-based innovation research is still in an early stage [15].…”

“…In such a rapidly changing environment, developing digital marketing capabilities is highly important for companies to maintain competitiveness [22]. Therefore, there is strong urgency for Chinese retail enterprises to digitize marketing capabilities, formulate digital marketing strategies, and implement new retailing models [15].…”