Learning generatively to facilitate marketing innovation of international joint ventures in emerging markets

Purpose: This study aims to investigate a mediation model in which generative learning positively affects marketing innovation and both organizational control and relationship openness mediate the relationship between learning intent and generative learning of international joint ventures (IJVs) in emerging markets. We also decipher the degree of necessity of these factors for generative learning and of generative learning for marketing innovation.

Design/methodology/approach: A sample of 181 marketing managers of IJVs in Vietnam, an emerging market, was surveyed to collect data. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to test the net effect, and necessary condition analysis (NCA) was used to decipher the degree of necessity.

Findings: The PLS-SEM results demonstrate that the effect of learning intent on generative learning is fully mediated by organizational control and relationship openness, which in turn leads to marketing innovation. The NCA findings reveal that all three factors, namely learning intent, organizational control and relationship openness, serve as necessary conditions for generative learning. However, generative learning does not play the role of a necessary condition for marketing innovation.

Practical implications: The study findings suggest that IJVs in emerging markets should pay attention not only to the net effects of those factors but also to their degrees of necessity for generative learning in order to achieve marketing innovation.

Originality/value: The study contributes to the literature by confirming the mediating roles of organizational control and relationship openness in the relationship between learning intent and generative learning. Furthermore, it is among the first to decipher the degrees of necessity of these factors for generative learning and of generative learning for the marketing innovation of IJVs in emerging markets.