Driven by emotions: the moderating effect of socioemotional wealth dimensions on the link between entrepreneurial orientation and innovation performance in family firms

This study examines the influence of socioemotional wealth (SEW) dimensions on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and innovation performance in family firms. Based on an analysis of a dataset comprising 145 family firms, our findings provide evidence that SEW positively moderates the association between EO and innovation performance. Notably, the dimension (E) emotional attachment of family members within SEW solely drives this interaction effect. Surprisingly, none of the other dimensions exhibit a significant moderating effect on the entrepreneurial orientation-innovation performance relationship. Furthermore, the overall moderation is substantially more pronounced for multidimensional SEW than for unidimensional SEW. Our findings challenge the results of previous studies on the entrepreneurial orientation-performance relationship in family firms, which considered SEW as unidimensional. Finally, we discuss implications for corporate entrepreneurship as well as SEW literature and provide directions for future research.