Whether de-familization promotes innovation is still controversial， as previous studies have overlooked the differences between dual enterprise innovation activities， namely exploitative innovation and exploratory innovation. Based on the 7 369 observations of 1 739 Chinese A-share listed family firms during 2008 to 2021， it made an empirical test. The results show that there is a positive relationship between de-familization and exploitative innovation， while an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between de-familization and exploratory innovation. Social emotional wealth has a negative moderating effect on the relationship between de-familization and dual innovation. These findings contribute to our understanding of the driving factors of dual innovation in family firms and offer suggestions for achieving a balanced development of dual innovation and improving competitiveness. It also reveals the influence of social emotional wealth， one of the non-economic goals in family firms， on the innovation behaviors of family firms by exploring the “embrace” and “obstruct” of family members on dual innovation during their pursuit of social emotional wealth.