Achieving the “dual-carbon” goal and promoting the green and low-carbon development of firms have become a consensus of the international community. As a crucial element of green and low-carbon development, promoting corporate green innovation necessitates the collaborative efforts of both internal and external stakeholders across various links of the green innovation. However, there is a lack of in-depth research on how to systematically examine the drivers of corporate green innovation, the impact of green innovation on carbon performance, and the spillover effect of carbon performance on customer behavior from the overall perspective of the green innovation chain.

First, existing research primarily investigates the macro-level drivers of corporate green innovation. At the micro level, the chief executive officer (CEO) status (whether the CEO is a founder or a professional manager) becomes particularly contentious in the context of family business succession. However, the impact of CEO status on corporate green innovation remains underexplored. Meanwhile, while previous studies have shown that buyers’ environmental behaviors significantly influence suppliers’ environmental actions, the effects of social and governance performance on different green innovations remain inadequately explored. Second, regarding the issue of how to improve corporate carbon performance, previous research has mostly focused on a single green process innovation or green product innovation, lacking comparative research on differentiated impacts of green innovations. Final, there is growing demand among customers for information on products’ carbon emission and firms’ climate commitments. It becomes crucial for firms to understand the implications of firms’ carbon performance on customers’ sustainability behavior, but the research into the spillover effects of corporate carbon performance on customer behavior requires further depth.

To address these research gaps, this thesis includes five essays. Essay 1 examines the influence of CEO status on corporate green innovation from the perspective of internal stakeholders, revealing that founder CEOs tend to favor green process innovation, whereas professional CEOs lean towards green product innovation. Furthermore, CEO tenure moderates this relationship. This difference is attributed to the varying perceptions of CEOs regarding opportunities for business performance or reputation.

Essay 2 focuses on external stakeholders and explores the impact of buyer-supplier relationships on corporate green innovation. It analyzes the differentiated impact of buyers’ performance in environmental (E), social (S), and governance (G) aspects on suppliers’ green innovation. The essay finds that buyers’ environmental and governance performance enhances suppliers’ green process innovation yet weakens suppliers’ green product innovation. Buyers’ social performance positively influences suppliers’ green product innovation but negatively affects suppliers’ green process innovation. The size of suppliers’ networks intensifies the positive influences of buyers’ ESG performance on green process innovation yet mitigates these positive influences on green product innovation.

Essay 3 compares and analyzes the differentiated impact of green process innovation and green product innovation on corporate carbon disclosure transparency and carbon reduction performance. It finds that the positive effect of green process innovation on carbon reduction performance is more pronounced, while the positive effect of green product innovation on carbon disclosure transparency is more prominent, and firm size moderates this relationship.

Essay 4 and Essay 5 examine the spillover effects of corporate carbon performance on customer sustainable behavior. These essays uncover how corporate carbon performance enhances (weakens) customer (dis)satisfaction and identity-(in)consistent emotions, which in turn promotes customers’ sustainable behavior.

The theoretical contributions of this thesis are mainly reflected in four aspects. First, based on stakeholder theory, by elucidating the roles of key internal and external stakeholders in corporate green innovation and its mechanisms, Essay 1 and Essay 2 enrich and deepen stakeholder theory’s application in the research of corporate green innovation.

Second, based on information processing theory, Essay 3 uncovers the relationship between green innovation and carbon performance. Meanwhile, Essay 3 expands the application of information processing theory to the realm of carbon management research.

Third, based on the three-factor theory of customer satisfaction, Essay 4 extends the application of this theory to the field of green marketing. Essay 5 contrasts two mediating mechanisms and determines that the three-factor theory of customer satisfaction better explains customers’ purchase intentions for low-carbon products, whereas the social identity theory more aptly addresses customers’ interactions with firm-generated content (FGC).

Fourth, from the overall perspective of the green innovation chain, this thesis systematically examines different key links of green innovation chain, including green innovation, green supply chain and green consumption. It provides a new perspective for an in-depth understanding of corporate green and low-carbon development, breaking through the existing research fragmentation.

This thesis has important implications for promoting the realization of the “dual-carbon” goal. On the one hand, this paper provides decision-making references for the government to optimize green innovation policies, improve green innovation chains, guide firms in investing in green innovation, and improve carbon performance. On the other hand, this paper also provides practical guidance for firms to optimize green marketing strategies and promote customers’ sustainable behavior.