The interplay of entrepreneurial personality and startup innovativeness – the mediation effect of technology adoption

PurposeIn the ever-evolving digital landscape, this study aims to explore which specific personality traits contribute to the innovativeness of startups, with a particular emphasis on understanding how technology adoption mediates this relationship. By doing so, the authors strive to unveil the nuanced dynamics of personality, technology adoption and startup innovativeness in the digital era.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conduct a quantitative empirical analysis using a sample of 1,314 German startups. This study utilizes a mediation analysis to examine the effects of personality traits on the innovativeness of startups, taking technology adoption as a mediator into account.FindingsThe empirical results show certain personality traits have direct effects on innovativeness. Also, the results show that technology adoption is a driver of startup innovativeness. In addition, these traits are (partially) mediated by technology adoption.Research limitations/implicationsThe results shed new light on the interplay of entrepreneurs' personality and technology adoption in relation to startup innovativeness and therefore underline the importance of technology in this triangular relationship. The authors employ secondary data from startups in Germany, which complicates generalization of the results to other geographical and cultural contexts.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the scientific debate on the role of personality traits in entrepreneurship by providing empirical evidence on the mediating effect of technology adoption in the relationship between personality traits and startup innovativeness. The findings offer valuable insights for researchers, entrepreneurs and policymakers interested in understanding and promoting innovativeness in the context of startups.