The influence of green product competitiveness on the success of green product innovation

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to investigate the influences of green product innovation and product process innovation on two constructs of green innovation casual chain: green product competitive advantage and green new product success. The impacts of green product competitive advantage as a partial mediator in the link between green product/process innovations and green new product success are also examined.Design/methodology/approachA model with four constructs is presented and tested on a sample of 203 R&D project leaders of electronics firms operating in China using quantitative methods.FindingsIt is found that green product and process innovations are positively associated with green product competitive advantage and green new product success, and green product competitive advantage partially mediates the relationships between green product/process innovations and green new product success. It is also found that green product innovation exerts a stronger influence on the consequential constructs than green process innovation.Practical implicationsThe positive causalities among the constructs suggest that green innovation is more than a branding support. It pays to pursue green innovation. Green product innovation is demonstrated to have a positively stronger influence on both green product competitive advantage and green new product success than green process innovation. The difference in impact signals that when operating under limited resources, green product innovation should be pursued first.Originality/valueThe article addresses the gap in green innovation theory concerning the associations among the key constructs of green innovation causal chain. It is the first green innovation research ever conducted in the e‐industry in China. The causalities identified can be leveraged to improve Chinese e‐industry players’ innovative and competitive capabilities and to encourage them to stay proactive in addressing challenges arising from environmental issues.

Ensuring Competitive Advantage through Innovation Capability and Clustering in the Thai Automotive Parts Molding Industry: A SEM Approach

“…1) Product Innovation today is focused on managing R&D for business growth and quickening the pace of innovation while integrating technology planning with the business strategy. However, innovation can upset and distort traditional economic principles concerning the sale of tangible and intangible goods, such as the use of the Internet for commerce [42][43][44][45][46].…”

Outline of Implemented Eco-innovation Activities – the Case of Clusters of South Eastern European Region

“…One of those benefits is the gain of a competitive advantage (Shrivastava 1995;Tien et. al 2005;Chen et al 2006;Triebswetter and Wackerbauer 2008;Fraj-Andrés et al 2009;Ar 2012;Hofer et al 2012;Mourad and Ahmed 2012;Wong 2012;Leonidou et al 2013 Robinson andStubberud 2013).…”

A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW FOR GREEN PRODUCT TERM: FROM DEFINITION TO EVALUATION

“…There is no universally accepted common classification among the forces that motivated the sensitiveness of businesses and led to the acquaintance of environmental management. However, two of them seem to be mainly addressed in the literature: the stringency of environmental legitimacy, which took place in an international and a national scale and the rise of consumerism (Kam‐Sing Wong, ).…”

“…It is notable that according to Kam‐Sing Wong (), green product innovation seemed to be more influential than green process innovation concerning green competitive advantage . There are also major markets for eco‐products that require the full compliance of businesses (Kam‐Sing Wong, ).…”

“…An increasing number of companies are working on the development of environmentally friendly products that will function as a differentiation tool, aiming at competitiveness (Chen and Chang, ). Consequently, concepts such as design for the environment (US term)/ eco‐design (European term)/ environmental conscious design / environmental design (van Weenen, ; Tukker et al ., ; Baumann et al ., ; Tien et al ., ), green product development (Jasti et al ., ), green product design (Chan, ), green product innovation (Kam‐Sing Wong, ; Wahid and Lee, ), green supply‐chain management (Shrivastava, ), integrated environmental management (Margerum, ), integrated product policy (Commission of the European Communities, ), product‐oriented environmental management (de Bakker et al ., ), product stewardship (de Bakker et al ., ), etc., have come to the forefront and are researched in academia. At the same time, there has been the development of new methodologies for the evaluation of environmental characteristics and impacts such as Environmental Management Systems , Life‐Cycle Analysis , Strategic Environmental Assessment , and many more (Baumann et al ., ; de Bakker et al ., ; Albino et al ., ; Finnveden et al ., ).…”