Servitization level, digital transformation, and enterprise performance of sporting goods manufacturing enterprises in China

To identify the effect and mechanism of servitization level and digital transformation on the performance of listed sporting goods manufacturing enterprises in China, we construct an index to measure the degree of digital transformation using data from 31 sporting goods manufacturing firms listed on Shanghai and Shenzhen A-shares and the New Over-the-Counter Market in China. The study uses the proportion of service business income in enterprise operating income to quantify servitization level, by analyzing the semantic expression of national digital economy policy and collecting digital category keywords from enterprise annual reports using crawler technology. Thereafter, we analyze the impact of servitization extent and digital transformation on company outcomes as well as if digital evolution acts as a moderating factor between servitization and company outcomes. The findings indicate that the extent of servitization reduces the outcomes of publicly traded sporting commodities production companies, showing a servitization paradox occurrence. Digital transformation degree has a positive U-shaped impact on enterprise performance and a weak positive moderating effect on servitization level and enterprise performance.