The innovation behavior of family firms has long been a focal point in both academic research and practical applications. Based on the socioemotional wealth theory, this study aims to empirically analyze the differences in exploratory innovation between family and non-family firms while exploring how internal and external environmental factors, namely overperformance duration and industrial competition, moderate this relationship. We conducted an empirical analysis using data from manufacturing firms listed on China’s A-share market from 2009 to 2018. The results indicate that family firms exhibited a lower propensity for exploratory innovation compared to that of non-family firms. Furthermore, the negative relationship between family firms and exploratory innovation was more pronounced in relaxed internal environments characterized by overperformance duration, while this negative relationship was alleviated in urgent external environments marked by intense industrial competition. This study contributes a fresh perspective to the literature on family firm innovation and provides valuable insights for policymakers and family firm managers seeking to enhance innovation competitiveness.

Both managers and researchers closely examine the factors that motivate firms to explore new domains and acquire new knowledge in pursuit of greater innovation. Considering the role of demand-side factors in innovation, in this study, we investigate how customer concentration influences exploratory innovation based on Chinese listed firms from 2009 to 2019. As the characteristics of the top management team (TMT) may affect the influential mechanism, we further investigated the moderating effects of board interlocks and the CEO’s research background. Our results demonstrate that with the increase in customer concentration, the exploratory innovation level shows an inverted U-shaped trend. The board interlocks strengthen the positive effects of customer concentration on exploratory innovation, while a CEO’s research background mitigates the negative effects. Our findings offer key insights and serve as a benchmark for companies that aim to achieve innovation in their approach to managing customer relationships and organizing their top management teams.