The influence of relationship quality on the innovation capacity in traditional food chains

Abstract

Purpose – Relational aspects between actors in a chain have been found to influence innovation capacity. Yet, many studies focus rather on groups of chain members, without investigating personalized links between the chain members. Other research involved case‐studies on a limited number of individual chains. The purpose of this paper is to examine quantitatively how the perceived relationship quality among three relational linked chain members affects the innovation capacity in traditional food chains beyond the dyad.Design/methodology/approach – Evidence is drawn from a survey of 90 triplets of firms (three interlinked chain members), with each triplet belonging to a single individual traditional food chain. Research was conducted in three European countries and six traditional food product categories. Heterogeneity across these chains is examined based on cluster analysis. Binary logistic regression is used to examine the influence of relationship quality on the innovation capacity in the chains.Findin...