The Impact of Digital Supply Chain Platforms on Sustainable Innovation: Do the Environmental and Social Innovations as Mediators Affect?

ABSTRACT This research aims, through employing both information processing theory (IPT) and triple bottom line frameworks, to shed light on the impact of digital supply chain platforms (DSCP) on both environmental innovation (EI) and social innovation (SI) and the impact of both EI and SI on economic innovation (ECOI) which were captured through 170 responses from managers in retailing supply chains. Based on partial least squares‐structural equation modelling (PLS‐SEM) estimation, the data were analyzed and the hypotheses were tested, which confirmed that DSCP strongly affects both EI and SI ( β = 0.762, p < 0.001; β = 0.720, p < 0.001), while the impact of EI and SI on ECOI ( β = 0.495, p < 0.001; β = 0.197, p = 0.005) was statistically significant, thus confirming the mediation of both EI and SI in these relationships. As a second and further complementary analysis the artificial neural network (ANN) analysis was employed to evaluate the non‐linear relationships and enhance the contributions of this study. The ANN results confirmed the PLS‐SEM outcomes. The empirical results of this research provide a set of rich and interesting contributions that highlight the importance of digitalization of retailing supply chains and sustainable innovation.