Could Digital Literacy Transform Farmers With E-Commerce Entrepreneurial Intentions Into Actual Entrepreneurs? The Moderating Effect of Organizational Support

E-commerce entrepreneurship is an important measure for enhancing agricultural efficiency, revitalizing rural areas, and increasing farmers’ income. However, many farmers fall into the dilemma of having the willingness to engage in e-commerce entrepreneurship but failing to take action. Based on empowerment theory, this study constructs an “empowerment–process–outcome” framework and employs survey data from 1,350 farmers in China to empirically analyze the relationship between digital literacy and the intention-behavior gap in farmers’ e-commerce entrepreneurship, along with its underlying mechanisms. The results show that digital literacy is significantly associated with a decreased likelihood of the intention-behavior gap in e-commerce entrepreneurship. Specifically, basic digital literacy is significantly related to behavioral transformation, whereas the practical effects of advanced digital literacy have not yet been fully realized. Furthermore, online social capital can partially mediate this relationship, and both instrumental support and institutional support play important moderating roles. Moreover, heterogeneity analysis reveals that farmers with a preference for cooperative entrepreneurship and those in areas with well-developed rural logistics are more influenced by digital literacy. In addition to enriching the application scenarios of empowerment theory, this study provides insights for optimizing digital literacy development mechanisms and improving the success rate of e-commerce entrepreneurial transformation.