Salman Nasution

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Traditional food enterprises in emerging economies face intensifying pressures to balance authenticity preservation with modern market demands while achieving sustainable performance across economic, social, and environmental dimensions. This study examines how entrepreneurial orientation translates into business sustainability performance through product innovation and digital marketing capabilities among artisan tofu producers in North Sumatra, Indonesia. A structured survey collected data from 320 artisan tofu producers selected through purposive sampling targeting owner-operators with a minimum of three years of operation. Data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling to test parallel and serial mediation pathways. Results reveal that entrepreneurial orientation significantly influences product innovation capability (β = 0.762, p < 0.001) and digital marketing capability (β = 0.308, p < 0.001). Both capabilities mediate the entrepreneurial orientation–sustainability relationship, with innovation capability demonstrating stronger effects (β = 0.311, p < 0.001) than marketing capability (β = 0.302, p < 0.001). The analysis confirms asymmetric parallel mediation, with indirect effects through innovation capability (β = 0.236) exceeding those through marketing capability (β = 0.093). Serial mediation shows innovation capability enhances marketing capability (β = 0.433, p < 0.001), which subsequently affects sustainability performance (β = 0.131). The model explains 63.1% of the variance in business sustainability performance. These findings extend research on entrepreneurial orientation to resource-constrained traditional food contexts by demonstrating that capabilities operate both independently and sequentially. For artisan producers, systematic innovation documentation simultaneously enhances operational efficiency and generates substantive digital marketing content.

Acknowledgment
This study was supported by the Directorate General of Higher Education, Research, and Technology (DIKTI) Research Grant 2025 (Main Contract 122/C3/DT.05.00/PL/2025; Derivative Contracts 3/SPK/LL1/AL.04.03/PL/2025, 014/II.3-AU/UMSU-LP2M/C/2025).