Do Well, Say Good: Transforming Green Innovation into Financial Return through Tone Management
Prof. Shibin Sheng
Professor of Marketing
Collat School Of Business
University of Alabama at Birmingham
ABSTRACT
Although firms see green innovation as a means to manage regulatory pressures and meet customer needs, little is known about its impact on firm performance. The underlying mechanisms and contingent conditions of the relationship between green innovation and firm financial performance also remain underexplored. Drawing on institutional theory, this study examines the mediating effect of tone management, including media tone and manager tone, on the relationship between green innovation and firm financial performance, as well as the moderating effect of state ownership on the relationship between tone management and financial performance. Using a dataset consisting of 10,064 observations of 1,460 Chinese high-tech firms over a 20-year period (2000–2019), this study reveals that green innovation can improve firm financial performance through positive media and manager tone. In addition, state ownership attenuates the positive effects of media tone and manager tone on firm performance. These findings offer important implications for academic research and managerial practice.
