How Relationship Attractiveness Drives Green Innovation Performance: The Dual Mediating Role of Fairness and Capability

This study examines how relationship attractiveness affects green innovation performance through two parallel mediating pathways: relationship fairness and green innovation capability, within supply chain partnerships.Based on survey data from 416 managers of upstream and downstream partners of a major food processing company in China, a structural equation modeling approach was employed to test the proposed dual mediation model.The results show that relationship attractiveness does not directly influence green innovation performance ( = 0.079, p = 0.069), but exerts significant indirect effects via relationship fairness ( = 0.182, p < 0.001) and green innovation capability ( = 0.226, p < 0.001).Among these, the capability pathway demonstrates a stronger mediating effect.These findings suggest that firms aiming to improve green innovation should build attractive external partnerships while also enhancing internal green capabilities and maintaining fairness in inter-organizational collaborations.This research extends relationship governance theory by uncovering the dual parallel mechanisms through which relationship attractiveness shapes innovation outcomes in sustainable supply chains.