How do Founders’ Imprinting of Being Only-Children Impact Product Innovation in New Ventures?

Abstract

The differences between only-children and children with siblings have been discussed for centuries and has captured the attention of the general public and researchers alike. However, limited knowledge is available about the imprinting effect only-children background has on individual’s strategic decision in business context. This study endeavors to fill this research gap by examining how founders’ background of being only-children impact product innovation in new ventures. By drawing on insight of imprinting theory, we theories that only-children founders have higher risk-aversion and less self-efficacy generating from interaction pattern with parents and the lack of peer competition in early family life, which contribute to lower motivation to pursue product innovation. We test our hypothesis using a sample of 422 Chinese new ventures. The empirical result support the negative relationship between founders’ only-children imprint, and product innovation. We also find that the negative relationship is strengthened when founders secure financial support from their families and is attenuated when they obtain strong faith in effort through experience outside family. From imprinting perspective, this study extends our understanding about the non-ignorable effect of early life family environment on individual’s strategic decision in business context and has implications for family science and entrepreneurship.