Market Orientation, Bricolage, and Business Model Design in Start-ups: The Counteractive Moderating Roles of State Support and Competitive Intensity

Drawing on goal-setting theory, we develop an integrated model to reveal how market orientation influences themes of business model design (BMD) through bricolage, considering state support and competitive intensity as two critical contingencies in start-ups. Evidence from a sample of 350 Chinese start-ups suggests that market orientation promotes efficiency- and novelty-centered BMD via bricolage; while state support (by increasing the quantity of situational resources) serves as a negative moderator, and competitive intensity serves as a positive moderator (by diminishing the effectiveness of using resources) in the market orientation-bricolage linkage. In addition, the indirect effects of market orientation on efficiency- and novelty-centered BMD via bricolage are moderated by state support and competitive intensity. These findings carry implications for the application and development of goal-setting theory in (frugal) innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as practical applications of strategic orientation and resourcefulness in BMD for start-ups.