Do we get along well? A dyadic study of how and when congruence in specific investments influence innovation

Using a matched survey of 209 buyer-supplier pairs, this study adopts a dyadic approach to investigate the impact of congruence in specific investments on innovation performance. It explores the mediating role of knowledge acquisition and moderating role of digital collaboration capability. The study focuses on the outcomes differentiated by levels of investment congruence (high-high vs. low-low congruence) and scenarios (congruence vs. in congruence), including the direction of incongruence (buyer-higher vs. supplier-higher incongruence). The findings indicate that investment congruence correlates with increased knowledge acquisition compared with incongruence, particularly for high-high specific investment congruence. In cases of incongruence, scenarios with supplier-higher incongruence led to more effective knowledge acquisition compared with buyer-higher incongruence. The research also reveals that congruence in specific investments indirectly enhances buyer innovation performance through knowledge acquisition, and the effect is enhanced by digital collaboration capabilities. This study thereby contributes to the business-to-business literature by revealing how and when congruence in specific investments influence innovation performance.