An Empirical Study On The Link Between Innovation Paths Of O2O Business Model And Entrepreneurial Failure

As the rapid development of information and communication technologies such as the Internet of Things,big data and cloud computing,the era of “Internet plus” comes with the combination of online and offline.So O2 O business model,which is featured with the integration and interaction of online virtual world and offline real world,becomes an important strategic choice for startups to follow the trend of business development and gain competitive advantage.A number of enterprises have already been well versed in this,such as Alibaba,Tencent and JD,whose key business is turning into New Retail,besides,“New Meida”(the strategic cooperation between Meituan and Dianping)and Koubei that focus on local life and service,DiDi and Ctrip that focus on travel,these enterprises also make use of Internet advantages such as cross-region,none-border,and tremendous information and users,to fully tap into the offline resourses and integrate the information and experience link between online and offline,thus making consumers enjoy offline service at a preferential online price,which not only perfectly combines offline business opportunities and online Internet advantages,but also promotes the deal between online consumers and offline goods or services.However,the development of O2 O,which went through the stages of entrepreneurial rise,boom and collapse successively,did not go smoothly as expected.Both theory and practice field had taken an active part in the discussion of the reasons of O2 O entrepreneurial failure,but they rarely analyzed this phenomenon from the perspective of business model.Further more,most of the reasons on O2 O entrepreneurial failure that have been discussed in theory and practice field can be attributed to the problems of business model in essence.Hence,three questions have been posed: What on earth is the relationship between business model and O2 O entrepreneurial failure? How do the different innovation paths of O2 O business model affect entrepreneurial failure? And which innovation path of O2 O business model can effectively reduce the risk of entrepreneurial failure?Therefore,according to the typical business phenomenon of O2 O entrepreneurial failure in China,from the perspective of business model innovation and value creation,and based on two new theories such as internet economics and service dominant logic,this paper sets failed O2 O startups as research sample and uses empirical study to analyze this phenomenon,aiming at exploring the link between innovation paths of O2 O business model and entrepreneurial failure.Firstly,based on value-creation dimention of classification that is formed of value proposition and value elements,efficiency-based business model and value-based business model are introduced as two sorts of O2 O business model innovation paths,the framework of the link between innovation paths and entrepreneurial failure is established under the moderating effect of entrepreneurial environment and industrial competition while controlling the influence of venture investment and entrepreneurial team,and theoretical hypotheses are given after the deduction combined with theoretical basis and value-creation formula.Then,the O2 O startups whose duration period is from 2013 to 2016 are chosen as research sample,according to the information collected from databases such as Zero2 IPO,Wind,Chinaventure and online channels such as ITjuzi,text mining and case survey are adopted to transfer unstructured case information into numeral rating to precisely measure relevent constructs.Afterwards,a hierarchical regression model is built to test theoretical hypotheses,and based on the empirical results,relevant management implications are given.Finally,research conclusions and theoretical contributions are further concluded,and research limitations and future research directions of this paper are also pointed out.The final empirical results show that both the innovation paths of O2 O business model,namely efficiency-based business model and value-based business model,can reduce the risk of entrepreneurial failure significantly,which is subject to the level of entrepreneurial environment and industrial competition.On one hand,the better entrepreneurial environment is,the bigger extent efficiency-based business model will reduce the risk of entrepreneurial failure;On the other hand,the fiercer industrial competition becomes,the bigger extent value-based business model will reduce the risk of entrepreneurial failure,whereas the extent that efficiency-based business model reduce the risk of entrepreneurial failure will decrease.The findings further reveal that in the era of mobile Internet that is featured with improved entrepreneurial environment but also fierce industrial competition,taking both efficiency-based business model and value-based business model into account and adjusting them dynamically in due course is critical for O2 O startups to reduce the risk of entrepreneurial failure and ensure everlasting.All in all,this paper has two main significances: Academically,it enriches relevant study on not only the path of business model innovation but also the attribution of entrepreneurial failure;Practically,the findings can help O2 O startups reduce the risk of entrepreneurial failure.