The effect of sustainability in the adoption of technological, service, and business model innovations

The focus of this paper is on the interplay between sustainability and the adoption of various types of innovations. Little empirical research addresses how the valuation of sustainability affects the adoption of different types of innovations. This study contributes to this research gap by presenting the explanatory sustainability factors behind horse industry operators' willingness to adopt technological, service, and business model innovations. The study was executed in Finland, where currently only a fraction of horse manure's potential is utilized and the horse industry is asking for new business models, innovations, and sustainable development. Empirical results collected through a survey of 139 Finnish horse industry operators reveals that the more an operator values economic sustainability, the more likely it is to adopt technological innovations, service innovations, and business model innovations. Moreover, a high valuation of environmental sustainability diminishes the input needed to adopt technological innovations, and the more an operator values institutional sustainability, the more likely it is to adopt business model innovations.