The influence of digital innovation on innovation performance in the manufacturing industry – research on intermediary effects based on dynamic capabilities

Digital innovation is important for current manufacturing industries to achieve innovation. Based on dynamic capabilities theory, this paper empirically tests the effects of three digital innovation (DI) modes, namely, digital product innovation (DP), digital process innovation (DPS) and digital service innovation (DS), on innovation performance (IP) and their intermediate mechanisms. The findings show that (1) DP, DPS, and DS have significant positive effects on IP; (2) developmental capability and absorptive capability play an intermediary role in the influence of DI on IP; and (3) the adaptive capability has a masking effect on the influence of DI on IP. This study comprehensively measures DI modes based on the specific manifestations in the manufacturing industry and provides empirical evidence for manufacturing DI to improve IP. This article proposes, for the first time, that dynamic capabilities have different mediating effects and further reveals the impact mechanism of DI on IP.