Exploring the nonlinear relationship between techno-overload and digital creativity in Industry 4.0 companies: the effects of digital leadership and digital self-efficacy

作者：Lei Ren, Yishuai Yin, Xiaobin Zhang, Jiale Zhang, Shujie Diao · 发表于：Behaviour and Information Technology · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1080/0144929x.2025.2495737 · 被引用次数：9 · 研究领域：Technostress in Professional Settings、Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior、Education and Learning Interventions

The widespread adoption of information communication technology (ICT) in today’s digital economy has made techno-overload a frequent occurrence in the workplace. Previous research on techno-overload mainly focuses on its negative impact on employee creativity. Drawing on the job demands-resources (JDR) model, this study aims to extend and refine previous findings by exploring both the positive and negative effects of techno-overload on employee creativity by identifying digital self-efficacy as the underlying mechanism and digital leadership as a key boundary condition qualifying the relationship between techno-overload and employee digital creativity. We conducted a two-stage questionnaire survey among full-time employees in smart manufacturing enterprises in South China to test the proposed relationships. The results revealed that techno-overload exhibited an inverted U-shaped effect on employees’ digital creativity and digital self-efficacy. Moderate techno-overload, instead of lower or higher techno-overload, improved digital self-efficacy and further stimulated digital creativity. Additionally, moderate techno-overload had a stronger positive effect on digital creativity through digital self-efficacy when digital leadership was higher. Finally, we discussed the theoretical and practical implications of this study.