From Policy Catalysis to Market Relay: A Tripartite Evolutionary Game Study on Digital–Green Synergy in E-Commerce

Against the backdrop of a technological revolution centered on green and low-carbon development, the deep integration of digitalization and greening has become a core engine for high-quality progress. Moving beyond linear perspectives of environmental governance, this study constructs tripartite evolutionary game models to dissect the strategic interactions among government, enterprises, and consumers. Focusing on the institutional context of e-commerce, we examine how platform-enabled transparency mechanisms (e.g., blockchain traceability and carbon labeling) shape these interactions through key parameters: greenwashing detection (θ), premium loss coefficient (η), and information screening cost (CD). The analysis reveals that the long-term trajectory is fundamentally determined by the intrinsic economic viability of corporate transformation. Government intervention acts as an equilibrium selector, influencing the speed of convergence, while product value (consumer utility and premium) and platform transparency determine the sustainability of the equilibrium. Critically, the tripartite model shows that the optimal outcome—full enterprise transformation and consumer adoption—can be achieved without sustained government intervention when product fundamentals are sufficiently attractive. This demonstrates the potential for market self-regulation to sustain digital–green synergy. The study makes three contributions: it captures the full tripartite feedback loop, reveals the saturation effect of policy intensity, and embeds platform transparency mechanisms into an evolutionary framework. The findings reframe the government’s role as a temporary enabler and position e-commerce platforms as key governance intermediaries, offering a theoretical basis for adaptive governance strategies in digital commerce.

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Publication Details

Journal
Journal of theoretical and applied electronic commerce research
Published
2026-04-11
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/jtaer21040117
Primary Topic
Digital Platforms and Economics
Type
article
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article

From Policy Catalysis to Market Relay: A Tripartite Evolutionary Game Study on Digital–Green Synergy in E-Commerce

Renyong Hou, Yachu Wang, Lu Xiang
Journal of theoretical and applied electronic commerce research
Digital Platforms and Economics
article

From Policy Catalysis to Market Relay: A Tripartite Evolutionary Game Study on Digital–Green Synergy in E-Commerce

Renyong Hou, Yachu Wang, Lu Xiang
article en

Abstract

Against the backdrop of a technological revolution centered on green and low-carbon development, the deep integration of digitalization and greening has become a core engine for high-quality progress. Moving beyond linear perspectives of environmental governance, this study constructs tripartite evolutionary game models to dissect the strategic interactions among government, enterprises, and consumers. Focusing on the institutional context of e-commerce, we examine how platform-enabled transparency mechanisms (e.g., blockchain traceability and carbon labeling) shape these interactions through key parameters: greenwashing detection (θ), premium loss coefficient (η), and information screening cost (CD). The analysis reveals that the long-term trajectory is fundamentally determined by the intrinsic economic viability of corporate transformation. Government intervention acts as an equilibrium selector, influencing the speed of convergence, while product value (consumer utility and premium) and platform transparency determine the sustainability of the equilibrium. Critically, the tripartite model shows that the optimal outcome—full enterprise transformation and consumer adoption—can be achieved without sustained government intervention when product fundamentals are sufficiently attractive. This demonstrates the potential for market self-regulation to sustain digital–green synergy. The study makes three contributions: it captures the full tripartite feedback loop, reveals the saturation effect of policy intensity, and embeds platform transparency mechanisms into an evolutionary framework. The findings reframe the government’s role as a temporary enabler and position e-commerce platforms as key governance intermediaries, offering a theoretical basis for adaptive governance strategies in digital commerce.

Journal of theoretical and applied electronic commerce researchVol. 21(4)
Wuhan University of Technology (CN)
Responsible consumption and production
Openalex Percentile: Top 23%
Digital Platforms and Economics
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From Policy Catalysis to Market Relay: A Tripartite Evolutionary Game Study on Digital–Green Synergy in E-Commerce — Renyong Hou, Yachu Wang, et al. · Journal of theoretical and applied electronic commerce research (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS