ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Agricultural and Food Economics
E-commerce Digitalization for Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development: Models and Pathways
Beijing Open University, Beijing, China
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Abstract
This study employs a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (FSQCA) of 15 differentiated agricultural enterprises in Heilongjiang Province, China, to explore how e-commerce digitalization enables sustainable agricultural and rural development (SARD). This study adopts the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework as its core meso-level integrated explanatory framework, embedding three major theories—digital empowerment, sustainable transition, and digital inclusion—into the technology, goal and environment dimensions of the TOE framework to form a theoretically integrated system. Meanwhile, it classifies the core conditional variables into technological capabilities, organizational capabilities, and environmental/structural factors, avoiding the stacking of practical dimensions in variable selection. We find that SARD outcomes are not driven by single factors but by the synergistic effect of multiple configurations. Analysis identifies three distinct pathways: digital technology and agile response-driven, service and channel optimization, and comprehensive synergy. The most effective pathway synergistically combines high channel integration, high digitalization of service experience, high marketing response agility, and high precision in consumer insight. These pathways enhance agricultural marketing efficiency and advance SARD across economic, social, and environmental dimensions. Furthermore, substitution effects exist among some auxiliary factors; for instance, depth of digital technology application and precision of consumer insight can be functionally equivalent in the digital technology and agile response-driven pathway. The core theoretical contribution of this study is breaking through the traditional linear cognition of single-factor driving. By adopting the fsQCA method, it identifies and theorizes the multiple configurational driving prototypes of sustainable agricultural and rural development (SARD), reveals the mechanisms of multiple concurrent causality and equifinal paths, supplements the configurational analysis perspective for the digital empowerment theory, and provides micro-practical support for the sustainable transition theory. We recommend that agricultural enterprises strengthen digital technology, build distinctive product identities based on consumer insights, and enhance service experiences to foster sustainable transitions.
Summary
Keywords
Agricultural product marketing, e-commerce, fsQCA, SARD, sustainable development
Received
11 November 2025
Accepted
22 May 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Shan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Qian Shan
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