Research on digital spillover effect of internet enterprises – an exploratory study based on grounded theory

In the wave of digital change, identifying the digital spillover effect of the Internet industry plays a vital role in promoting high-quality economic development. There is still a lack of academic discussion on the connotation of digital spillover of internet enterprises and a lack of shared understanding of the digital spillover effect dimension. This study comprehensively reviews the annual reports and analysis reports of internet enterprises, studies 50 internet enterprises’ textual data through theoretical methods, and explores and constructs a complete set of internet enterprises’ digital spillover effects model through the process of ‘input-process-output’. The study finds that the digital spillover effect of internet enterprises is divided into five dimensions: digital production elements, digital practices, improving internal competitiveness, improving external competitiveness, and improving supply chain efficiency. Digital production elements are the production conditions of digital spillover of internet enterprises, digital practices are the practical actions of digital spillover of internet enterprises, and improving internal and external competitiveness as well as supply chain efficiency are the results of digital spillover of internet enterprises. This study enriches the theoretical framework related to the effect of digital spillover of internet enterprises and provides help to accelerate the promotion of digital practices of enterprises.