Dual pathways from the use of digital technologies to employee creativity: the moderating role of mindfulness

In the context of increasing digitalization, understanding how the use of digital technologies affects employee creativity is essential for promoting enterprise innovation. However, existing research on the impact of the use of digital technologies on employee creativity is inconsistent. Even when scholars acknowledge these conflicting findings, few have investigated the underlying mechanisms behind these differences. To fill this gap, this study proposes a dual-pathway model, considering job flourishing and emotional exhaustion as mediators and mindfulness as a moderator, based on the Conservation of Resources Theory. Analyzing 757 valid samples in China using multiple linear regression and Bootstrap tests, the results indicate that the use of digital technologies can enhance job flourishing and boost employee creativity, but it can also lead to emotional exhaustion, which in turn reduces employee creativity. Mindfulness is found to strengthen the link between the use of digital technologies and job flourishing, while weakening the connection between the use of digital technologies and emotional exhaustion. Additionally, mindfulness can amplify the indirect effect of the use of digital technologies on employee creativity through job flourishing and diminish its indirect effect via emotional exhaustion. These findings help enterprises maximize benefits and mitigate the potential negative effects of using digital technologies to support sustainable innovation.