Strategic business value from big data analytics: An empirical analysis of the mediating effects of value creation mechanisms

Big data are a prominent source of value capable of generating competitive advantage and superior business performance. This paper represents the first empirical investigation of the theoretical model proposed by Grover et al. (2018), considering the mediating effects of four value creation mechanisms on the relationship between big data analytics capabilities (BDAC) and four value targets. The four value creation mechanisms investigated (the source of the value being pursued) are transparency, access, discovery, and proactive adaptation, while the four value targets (the impacts of the value creation process) are organization performance, business process improvement, customer experience and market enhancement, and product and service innovation. The proposed empirical validation of Grover et al.’s (2018) model adopts an econometric analysis applied to data gathered through a survey involving 256 BDA experts. The results reveal that transparency mediates the relationship for all the value targets, while access and proactive adaptation mediate only in case of some value targets, and discovery does not have any mediating effect. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed at the end of the paper.