Digital Platform Capability, Value Co-Creation, and SME Digital Transformation Performance: A Moderated Mediation Model

Abstract

To explore how SMEs utilize digital platform capability to enhance digital transformation performance, this study, based on dynamic capability theory and value co-creation theory, takes Chinese SMEs as the research object and employs hierarchical regression analysis to investigate the mechanism through which digital platform capability influences their digital transformation performance, revealing the mediating role of value co-creation and the moderating role of local policy perception. The results indicate that (1) digital platform capability has a positive effect on the digital transformation performance of SMEs. (2) value co-creation partially mediates the relationship between digital platform capability and digital transformation performance. (3) local policy perception positively moderates both the relationship between digital platform capability and value co-creation, as well as the mediating effect of value co-creation in the link between digital platform capability and digital transformation performance. The findings not only extend the boundaries of existing theoretical research and enrich the perspectives on digital transformation but also offer new theoretical insights into how SMEs can leverage digital platforms to establish communities of interest and improve their digital transformation performance.