How Digital Business Penetration Influences Farmers’ Sense of Economic Gain: The Role of Farmers’ Entrepreneurial Orientation and Market Responsiveness

The extensive development of digital business in the countryside has had explicit and implicit influences on farmers' production, lifestyle and cognitive mode and has had an impact on their sense of economic gain (SEG). This study aims to determine whether digital business penetration (DBP) improves farmers' SEG in traditional villages in western China, and if significant, this study seeks to determine the mechanism. Based on questionnaire responses from 343 farmers, the empirical results indicate the principle in three ways. First, farmers' SEG grows with business digitization, especially in traditional minority villages. Second, farmers' entrepreneurial orientation (EO) partially mediates DBP's positive effect on SEG. Third, farmers' market response capacity (MRC) plays a positive moderating role, which indicates that in comparison with farmers who have a lower response to market changes, farmers who have a higher response to market changes have a higher SEG promoted by DBP. Furthermore, DBP's impact on farmers' SEG is upgraded throughout their EO, boosted by their MRC. Thus, farmers' MRC is a significant influencing factor for improving their entrepreneurial intention, enhancing their attitude toward digitization and increasing their SEG.