Analysis of UK small business entrepreneurs’ attitudes towards digitalization and sustainability

This study explores how small business entrepreneurs perceive digital technology and sustainability and examines how their attitudes toward digital technology shape their attitudes toward sustainable development. Data were collected from 385 small business owners in the United Kingdom through a convenience sample recruited via LinkedIn. The survey included the Attitudes Toward Sustainable Development Scale and the Digital Technology Attitude Scale. Findings from correlation and regression analyses showed that enabling digital attitudes such as digital competence and interest in technology are positively related to all dimensions of sustainable development, while inhibiting attitudes such as entertainment-oriented technology use and excessive engagement with social networks display negative associations with economic, social and educational dimensions. These findings suggest that technological competence and interest in technology may support sustainability-oriented attitudes, whereas uncontrolled use of digital tools for entertainment or social media purposes may weaken some dimensions of sustainable development attitudes. This highlights the varying nature of the relationship between digitalization and sustainable development, which depends on the purpose and manner of digital tool usage.