Proactive market orientation and comprehensive entrepreneurial pivoting: a moderated mediation model of dynamic capabilities

Many new ventures face the imperative to pivot based on market-oriented information, yet whether market orientation effectively facilitates comprehensive entrepreneurial pivoting (CEP) remains a critical and unresolved question that warrants deeper investigation. To advance this discourse and provide a more definitive understanding, this study adopts a proactive market orientation (PMO) perspective, investigating whether and how PMO drives CEP through the mediating role of dynamic capabilities, while also exploring macro-level moderating effect of environmental dynamism. Survey data from 321 Chinese ventures reveal that PMO positively influences CEP by enhancing dynamic capabilities, with environmental dynamism strengthening this relationship. This study contributes to the literature by providing a more definitive understanding in the market orientation and CEP relationship and offering a dynamic capability-based explanation. Moreover, this study provides practical insights for new ventures seeking to strategically navigate market uncertainties through proactive pivoting.