Eco-innovation, sustainable business performance and market turbulence moderation in emerging economies

The study purports to empirically draw out the prominence of eco-innovation in achieving sustainability in business performances, which is further tested by the moderation of turbulent market conditions on the relationship. In contrast to previous eco-innovation research, a nascent methodology involving a dual-stage hybrid analysis and an emerging Artificial Intelligence (AI) technique, deep learning was used to analyze 683 viable responses from Ghanaian manufacturing firms. Some intriguing conclusions were discovered where the dimensions of sustainable business performance are achievable vis-à-vis the implementation of product, process, and organizational eco-innovation. Notably, a manufacturing firm's environmental performance can be considerably improved by implementing the triumvirate of product, process, and organizational eco-innovation. Subsequently, a firm can improve its social performance by R&D investment in eco-innovations, novel green management practices and staff sensitization on eco-innovation. Lastly, market turbulence (technology and environmental turbulence) in the form of technological advancements, intense market competition, changing household demand and taste amplifies the positive effect of product and organizational eco-innovation on the economic dimension of sustainable performance. Theoretically, a newly integrated theoretical framework, which incorporates eco-innovation, contingency and RBV theory, could aid in determining the relative importance of specific determinants, thereby providing significant contributions to eco-innovations effect on the sustainability of business performance. •A methodology involving a dual-stage PLS-SEM & ANN was used to analyze 683 viable responses.•Environmental performance can be considerably improved by implementing the triumvirate of product, process, and organizational eco-innovation.•Firms can improve social performance by R&D investment, novel green management practices and staff sensitization on eco-innovation.•Market Turbulence amplifies the positive effect of product and organizational eco-innovation on economic performance.