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Hypothesis 1a : Entrepreneur have positive influences on the adoption of horizontal green
product diversification.
Hypothesis 1b : Entrepreneur have positive influences on the adoption of verticale green
product diversification.
2.4. Customers
With the increasing concern about the quality of the natural environment, customers have started
to pressure firms to improve their environmental performance (Christmann, 2004; Wagner, 2007;
Darnall et al., 2008; Horbach,2008; Delmas and Montiel, 2009; Massoudet al., 2010). Pressure
from customers may stimulate firms in adopting proactive green innovation strategies (Buysse and
Verbeke, 2003; Sharma and Henriques, 2005; Murillo-Lunaet al.,2008; Sandhuet al., 2010; Sarkis
et al., 2010). These strategies can benefit firms by differentiating their products and thus gaining
a competitive advantage. Physically distant customers need reliable signals that indicate firms’
commitment to environmental protection (Kinget al., 2005; Nishitani, 2009). Certified products or
environmental management systems can provide reliable information for their production process
and products (Zhu and Sarkis,2004). These certified products and processes are often perceived by
firms as the necessity to gain entry into the global market (Christmann and Taylor, 2001; Welchet
al., 2002; Christmann, 2004; Zeng et al., 2005; Wu et al.,2007; Nishitani, 2009; Massoudet al.,
2010). This leads to the following hypotheses:
Hypothesis 2a:Foreign customers have positive effects on the adoption of horizontal green
product innovation.
Hypothesis 2b:Foreign customers have positive effects on the adoption of vertical green
product diversification.
2.5. Foreign Investors
With the increasingly interdependent economic relationship among between countries, foreign
direct investment (FDI) are widely recognized as the key agents in the diffusion of green innovation
practices globally , (Christmann and Taylor, 2001; Perkins and Neumayer, 2009; Zenget al., 2009),
knowledge and technologies (Gorg and greneway, 2004 ; Javoreick, 2004 ; Lin and al, 2009 ; Du
and al, 2009). FDI has a positive impact on the level of product diversification through direct
and indirect channels (Iwamato and Nabeshima, 2012). Scalet and Kelly (2010) suppose that
CER is the answer for a question of how to differentiate one’s product to satisfy investor
demand. Such anticipation is probably plausible in that investors have a propensity to show
willingness to pay a premium for the stocks of firms which are socially responsible (Mishra
& Suar, 2010). Suppliers of capital may prefer to do business with firms exhibiting strong
environmental and social performance because their cash flows may be perceived to be at less
risk and less prone to negative performance (O’Shaughnessy et al., 2007). However, SMEs
also tend to be the targets of environmental demands from external stakeholders (González-Benito
and González-Benito, 2010) and they face pressure from stakeholders both at home and abroad
(Darnall and Edwards Jr, 2006). One of the fundamental differences between large and small
firms is their actual access to resources (Ang 1991; Berger and Udell 1998). Small firms often
do not have enough financial resources to support their activities and investments and mainly
rely on internal sources such as personal savings and retained profits whereas large firms
have access to a wider range of resources including equity finance and term loans (Berger
and Udell 1998). Next to a lack of financial resources, small firms are considered to lack the
knowledge and skills to implement environmental practices, a lack that may be overcome by
external support . Empirical studies found that foreign investedfirms are more likely to implement
