Product attributes and digital innovation performance: the importance of country and firm level supporting environment

The emergence of digital technology has changed the structure and functions of products. Digitalised products are connectable with digital resources, reprogrammable for personal customisation, and upgradable for continuous improvement. Digital innovation (DI) not only makes industrial products capable of serving various customers' needs, but also brings great challenges to companies. In the literature, DI critical success factors remain uncovered, so do the environmental conditions that support DI. In this paper, we developed a theoretical model that identifies product attributes (e.g., product modularity, upgradability, usage frequency, and uniqueness) that have effects on product DI performance. Further, we elaborated the importance of establishing and selecting appropriate environment at country level (e.g., degree of uncertainty avoidance and degree of technology proficiency), and firm level (e.g., strategy, resources, and structure) for DI. Essentially, this study suggests that interaction effects of product attributes and supporting environments could significantly improve product DI performance.