Bridging Digital Cultural Consumption and Sustainability: How Motivation, Competencies, and Digital Cultural Consumption Shape Environmental Engagement

Digital cultural consumption has become an increasingly important form of cultural participation, yet its implications for sustainability remain insufficiently understood. While previous studies have examined digital culture, digital competencies, and pro-environmental behavior separately, little is known about how these factors jointly contribute to environmental engagement in digital cultural contexts. This study develops and empirically tests an integrated structural model explaining the relationships among functional motivations, digital competencies, digital cultural consumption, and environmental engagement. Environmental engagement was conceptualized as a multidimensional construct encompassing environmental awareness, attitudes, and pro-environmental behavior and was operationalized as a single latent construct due to the substantial empirical overlap observed among these dimensions. The proposed model was tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) based on data collected through a nationwide CAWI survey of 620 digital cultural consumers in Poland. Functional motivations positively influenced digital cultural consumption (β = 0.264, p < 0.001). Digital competencies exerted a significant positive direct effect on environmental engagement (β = 0.142, p = 0.002), indicating that individuals with higher digital competencies are more likely to demonstrate stronger environmental engagement in digital cultural contexts. Digital cultural consumption was positively associated with environmental engagement (β = 0.405, p < 0.001) and partially mediated the relationship between functional motivations and environmental engagement (β = 0.107, p < 0.001). The study contributes to the literature by integrating research on digital cultural participation and sustainability within a single explanatory framework, highlighting digital cultural consumption as one of the mechanisms linking users’ motivations with environmental engagement. The findings suggest that strengthening digital competencies and fostering motivation to participate in digital cultural activities may support more sustainable forms of digital cultural participation.