Digital marketing capabilities and specialty crop cultivation income: evidence from Chinese litchi farmers

Digital marketing capabilities (DMCs) are critical for integrating smallholders into high-value markets, yet empirical evidence on their income effects remains limited. Drawing on survey data from 635 litchi farmers in Guangdong, China, this study analyzes how DMCs affect specialty crop cultivation income, emphasizing the mediating role of social capital and the moderating effects of market dynamism and product branding. Results show that DMCs directly enhance income and indirectly function through social capital, with virtual social capital serving as a more effective mediator than real social capital. Their impact is amplified in dynamic markets but weakened under strong product brand influence, although targeted branding helps overcome this limitation. Heterogeneity analysis shows that non-contract farmers benefit more significantly, indicating that DMCs can serve as an effective supplement to formal systems institutions. These findings underscore the need to reorient rural digital strategies from infrastructure provision toward capability building, highlighting the role of DMCs in promoting inclusive market participation and addressing the persistent “paradox of plenty” in specialty crops.