Influences of industrial internet platform firms' ESG performance and digital leadership on user firms' innovation performance: The mediating role of inter-firm trust

In the era of digitalization, market dynamics are ever more intense, prompting firms to accelerate their innovation efforts. This paper analyzes the relationships between industrial internet platform firms' ESG performance, digital leadership, inter-firm relational trust, inter-firm digital trust, and user firms' innovation performance through questionnaire surveys carried out with multiple industrial internet platform users' managers and utilizing empirical analysis methods. We have discovered several important conclusions through our research. Firstly, platform firms' ESG performance and digital leadership positively influence inter-firm relational trust and digital trust. Secondly, inter-firm relational trust and digital trust both have a significant positive impact on user firms' innovation performance, with digital trust exerting a more pronounced impact. Thirdly, inter-firm relational trust and digital trust play a mediating role between platform firms' ESG performance and user firms' innovation performance, as well as between platform firms' digital leadership and user firms' innovation performance. This study expands the existing body of research on inter-firm trust, elucidates the underlying mechanisms linking platform firms' ESG performance, digital leadership, and user firms' innovation performance, and offers valuable insights for enhancing platform firms' ESG performance, inter-firm trust, and user firms' innovation performance.