IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v192y2025ics0148296325001110.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Growth hacking capability: Antecedents and performance implications in the context of SMEs

Author

Listed:
  • Giordino, Daniele
  • Troise, Ciro
  • Bresciani, Stefano
  • Camilleri, Mark Anthony

Abstract

Growth hacking capability (GHC), detailed as a methodological approach that has as its goal the promotion of the use of experimentation across the entire business value chain, is essential for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) seeking to boost their growth. Most of the scholarly discourse surrounding GHC remains theoretical in nature. Thus, scholarly literature lacks empirical evidence on the capabilities that enable SMEs’ GHC. This research explores the antecedents of GHC and, at the same time, whether GHC impacts the financial and organisational performance of SMEs. We tested three main antecedents of GHC: big data analytics capability, innovation capability and digital transformation. Our findings suggest that big data analytics capability and innovation capability positively contribute to SMEs’ GHC. On the other hand, digital transformation has a non-significant relationship with GHC. The findings suggest a positive and significant relationship between GHC and the organisational and financial performance of SMEs.

Suggested Citation

  • Giordino, Daniele & Troise, Ciro & Bresciani, Stefano & Camilleri, Mark Anthony, 2025. "Growth hacking capability: Antecedents and performance implications in the context of SMEs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:192:y:2025:i:c:s0148296325001110
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115288
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296325001110
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115288?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Troise, Ciro & Corvello, Vincenzo & Ghobadian, Abby & O'Regan, Nicholas, 2022. "How can SMEs successfully navigate VUCA environment: The role of agility in the digital transformation era," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    2. Rainer Harms & Mario Schwery, 2020. "Lean Startup: Operationalizing Lean Startup Capability and testing its performance implications," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(1), pages 200-223, January.
    3. Solaimani, Sam & Haghighi Talab, Ardalan & van der Rhee, Bo, 2019. "An integrative view on Lean innovation management," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 109-120.
    4. Rialti, Riccardo & Zollo, Lamberto & Ferraris, Alberto & Alon, Ilan, 2019. "Big data analytics capabilities and performance: Evidence from a moderated multi-mediation model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    5. Sanasi, Silvia & Ghezzi, Antonio & Cavallo, Angelo, 2023. "What happens after market validation? Experimentation for scaling in technology-based startups," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    6. Bargoni, Augusto & Santoro, Gabriele & Messeni Petruzzelli, Antonio & Ferraris, Alberto, 2024. "Growth hacking: A critical review to clarify its meaning and guide its practical application," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    7. Feliciano-Cestero, María M. & Ameen, Nisreen & Kotabe, Masaaki & Paul, Justin & Signoret, Mario, 2023. "Is digital transformation threatened? A systematic literature review of the factors influencing firms’ digital transformation and internationalization," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    8. Cristofaro, Matteo & Giardino, Pier Luigi & Barboni, Luca, 2025. "Growth hacking: A scientific approach for data-driven decision making," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    9. Victor M. Bennett & Aaron K. Chatterji, 2023. "The entrepreneurial process: Evidence from a nationally representative survey," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(1), pages 86-116, January.
    10. Robert M. Grant, 1996. "Prospering in Dynamically-Competitive Environments: Organizational Capability as Knowledge Integration," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(4), pages 375-387, August.
    11. Cadden, Trevor & Weerawardena, Jay & Cao, Guangming & Duan, Yanqing & McIvor, Ronan, 2023. "Examining the role of big data and marketing analytics in SMEs innovation and competitive advantage: A knowledge integration perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    12. Chandler, Gaylen N. & DeTienne, Dawn R. & McKelvie, Alexander & Mumford, Troy V., 2011. "Causation and effectuation processes: A validation study," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 375-390, May.
    13. Verhoef, Peter C. & Broekhuizen, Thijs & Bart, Yakov & Bhattacharya, Abhi & Qi Dong, John & Fabian, Nicolai & Haenlein, Michael, 2021. "Digital transformation: A multidisciplinary reflection and research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 889-901.
    14. Branzei, Oana & Vertinsky, Ilan, 2006. "Strategic pathways to product innovation capabilities in SMEs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 75-105, January.
    15. Marcos Ferasso & Tatiana Beliaeva & Sascha Kraus & Thomas Clauss & Domingo Ribeiro‐Soriano, 2020. "Circular economy business models: The state of research and avenues ahead," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3006-3024, December.
    16. Wamba, Samuel Fosso & Gunasekaran, Angappa & Akter, Shahriar & Ren, Steven Ji-fan & Dubey, Rameshwar & Childe, Stephen J., 2017. "Big data analytics and firm performance: Effects of dynamic capabilities," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 356-365.
    17. Tseng, Hsiao-Ting, 2023. "Customer-centered data power: Sensing and responding capability in big data analytics," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    18. Fasano, Francesco & Cappa, Francesco, 2022. "How do banking fintech services affect SME debt?," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    19. Chatterjee, Sheshadri & Chaudhuri, Ranjan & Mariani, Marcello & Fosso Wamba, Samuel, 2023. "The consequences of innovation failure: An innovation capabilities and dynamic capabilities perspective," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    20. Sultana, Saida & Akter, Shahriar & Kyriazis, Elias, 2022. "How data-driven innovation capability is shaping the future of market agility and competitive performance?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    21. Bhatti, Sabeen Hussain & Santoro, Gabriele & Khan, Jabran & Rizzato, Fabio, 2021. "Antecedents and consequences of business model innovation in the IT industry," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 389-400.
    22. Marcos Ferasso & Tatiana Beliaeva & Sascha Kraus & Thomas Clauss & Domingo Ribeiro-Soriano, 2020. "Circular economy business models: The state of research and avenues ahead," Post-Print hal-04278171, HAL.
    23. Kohtamäki, Marko & Heimonen, Jesse & Sjödin, David & Heikkilä, Vili, 2020. "Strategic agility in innovation: Unpacking the interaction between entrepreneurial orientation and absorptive capacity by using practice theory," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 12-25.
    24. Ferreira, Jorge & Coelho, Arnaldo & Moutinho, Luiz, 2020. "Dynamic capabilities, creativity and innovation capability and their impact on competitive advantage and firm performance: The moderating role of entrepreneurial orientation," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 92.
    25. Olabode, Oluwaseun E. & Boso, Nathaniel & Hultman, Magnus & Leonidou, Constantinos N., 2022. "Big data analytics capability and market performance: The roles of disruptive business models and competitive intensity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1218-1230.
    26. Li, Yu & Chen, Yuxi & Wang, Junhe & Zhou, Yun & Wang, Chengqi, 2025. "Digital platform capability and innovation ambidexterity: The mediating role of strategic flexibility," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    27. Aswani, Reema & Kar, Arpan Kumar & Ilavarasan, P. Vigneswara & Dwivedi, Yogesh K., 2018. "Search engine marketing is not all gold: Insights from Twitter and SEOClerks," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 107-116.
    28. El-Kassar, Abdul-Nasser & Singh, Sanjay Kumar, 2019. "Green innovation and organizational performance: The influence of big data and the moderating role of management commitment and HR practices," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 483-498.
    29. Bargoni, Augusto & Smrčka, Luboš & Santoro, Gabriele & Ferraris, Alberto, 2024. "Highway to hell or paradise city? Exploring the role of growth hacking in learning from innovation failure," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    30. Sinan Aral & Peter Weill, 2007. "IT Assets, Organizational Capabilities, and Firm Performance: How Resource Allocations and Organizational Differences Explain Performance Variation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(5), pages 763-780, October.
    31. Kraus, Sascha & Durst, Susanne & Ferreira, João J. & Veiga, Pedro & Kailer, Norbert & Weinmann, Alexandra, 2022. "Digital transformation in business and management research: An overview of the current status quo," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    32. Adomako, Samuel & Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph & Donbesuur, Francis & Ahsan, Mujtaba & Danso, Albert & Uddin, Moshfique, 2022. "Strategic agility of SMEs in emerging economies: Antecedents, consequences and boundary conditions," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(6).
    33. Ghezzi, Antonio & Cavallo, Angelo, 2020. "Agile Business Model Innovation in Digital Entrepreneurship: Lean Startup Approaches," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 519-537.
    34. Cosenz, Federico & Bivona, Enzo, 2021. "Fostering growth patterns of SMEs through business model innovation. A tailored dynamic business modelling approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 658-669.
    35. Bohnsack, René & Liesner, Meike Malena, 2019. "What the hack? A growth hacking taxonomy and practical applications for firms," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 62(6), pages 799-818.
    36. Andrea Contigiani & Daniel A Levinthal, 2019. "Situating the construct of lean start-up: adjacent conversations and possible future directions," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 28(3), pages 551-564.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gerlich, Carolin & Brenk, Katharina & Antonio, Jerome L. & Kanbach, Dominik K. & Kraus, Sascha, 2025. "Wielding a double-edged sword: Unravelling the development of dynamic capabilities through growth hacking," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    2. Sanasi, Silvia, 2025. "Structuring experimentation: Implementing Growth Hacking in new ventures," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    3. Bargoni, Augusto & Santoro, Gabriele & Messeni Petruzzelli, Antonio & Ferraris, Alberto, 2024. "Growth hacking: A critical review to clarify its meaning and guide its practical application," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    4. Kumar, Vinod & Kumar, Sachin & Chaudhuri, Ranjan & Chatterjee, Sheshadri & Thrassou, Alkis & Sakka, Georgia, 2025. "From insight to impact: Unravelling the dynamics of big data-backed growth hacking," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    5. Xiang, Guopeng & Peng, Mixiang & Tang, Fei & Liu, Yuan, 2024. "Unpacking the impact of entrepreneurial learning on business model innovation in internet startups: Mediating roles of digital capabilities," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    6. Joshi, Yatish & Bodhi, Rahul & Chatterjee, Sheshadri & Mariani, Marcello, 2025. "The impact of growth hacking on firm performance under environmental turbulence: A moderated-mediation analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    7. Tortora, Debora & Chierici, Roberto & Farina Briamonte, Massimiliano & Tiscini, Riccardo, 2021. "‘I digitize so I exist’. Searching for critical capabilities affecting firms’ digital innovation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 193-204.
    8. Rezazadeh, Arash & Kohns, Marco & Bohnsack, René & António, Nuno & Rita, Paulo, 2025. "Generative AI for growth hacking: How startups use generative AI in their growth strategies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    9. Foggetti, Caterina & Natalicchio, Angelo & Ardito, Lorenzo & Albino, Vito, 2025. "Opening the black box of Growth Hacking: Insights into the microfoundations of Lean Startup Capabilities," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    10. Cristofaro, Matteo & Giardino, Pier Luigi & Barboni, Luca, 2025. "Growth hacking: A scientific approach for data-driven decision making," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    11. Zahoor, Nadia & Zopiatis, Anastasios & Adomako, Samuel & Lamprinakos, Grigorios, 2023. "The micro-foundations of digitally transforming SMEs: How digital literacy and technology interact with managerial attributes," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    12. Ge Zhang & Yuxiang Gao & Gaoyong Li, 2023. "Research on Digital Transformation and Green Technology Innovation—Evidence from China’s Listed Manufacturing Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-23, April.
    13. Oesterreich, Thuy Duong & Anton, Eduard & Teuteberg, Frank & Dwivedi, Yogesh K, 2022. "The role of the social and technical factors in creating business value from big data analytics: A meta-analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 128-149.
    14. Troise, Ciro & Corvello, Vincenzo & Ghobadian, Abby & O'Regan, Nicholas, 2022. "How can SMEs successfully navigate VUCA environment: The role of agility in the digital transformation era," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    15. Hossain, Md Afnan & Akter, Shahriar & Yanamandram, Venkata, 2021. "Why doesn't our value creation payoff: Unpacking customer analytics-driven value creation capability to sustain competitive advantage," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 287-296.
    16. Di Vaio, Assunta & Palladino, Rosa & Pezzi, Alberto & Kalisz, David E., 2021. "The role of digital innovation in knowledge management systems: A systematic literature review," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 220-231.
    17. Patrick Mikalef & Ilias O. Pappas & John Krogstie & Michail Giannakos, 2018. "Big data analytics capabilities: a systematic literature review and research agenda," Information Systems and e-Business Management, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 547-578, August.
    18. Efpraxia D. Zamani & Anastasia Griva & Kieran Conboy, 2022. "Using Business Analytics for SME Business Model Transformation under Pandemic Time Pressure," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 1145-1166, August.
    19. Annosi, Maria Carmela & Capo, Francesca & Appio, Francesco Paolo & Bedetti, Ivan, 2023. "Unveiling micro-foundations of digital transformation: Cognitive models, routines, and organizational structures in agri-food SMEs," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    20. Chuks Otioma, 2023. "IT Capability, Organisational Learning and Innovation Performance of Firms in Kenya," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 14(3), pages 3489-3517, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:192:y:2025:i:c:s0148296325001110. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.