Transforming stakeholder pressure into green product innovation through the roles of green value co-creation and innovative culture in Vietnam’s manufacturing SMEs

Accelerating economic growth while restricting its impact on the environment has placed manufacturing SMEs under mounting pressure to pursue green product innovation despite severe resource constraints. Drawing on value co-creation theory, stakeholder theory, and dynamic capability theory, this study investigates how stakeholder pressure influences green product innovation through the intermediary function of green value co-creation and the facilitating role of innovative culture. Based on a survey of 356 managers of Vietnamese manufacturing SMEs, the research model was assessed via PLS-SEM. The findings demonstrate that stakeholder pressure positively affects green value co-creation, which in turn enhances green product innovation. Results also reveal that an innovative culture strengthens the impact of stakeholder pressure on green product innovation. This study adds new insight to existing scholarship by clarifying the mechanisms through which external pressures and internal capabilities jointly link to green innovation in resource-constrained contexts. Practically, the findings suggest that SMEs can convert stakeholder demands into opportunities for green product innovation by cultivating an internal innovative culture and engaging in green value co-creation with key partners.