IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i21p14508-d963620.html

Sustainability in a Digitized Era Analyzing the Moderation Effect of Social Strata and Digital Capital Dependence on Digital Divide

Author

Listed:
  • Swapnil Singh

    (Department of Sociology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 22-1005, India)

  • Uma Shankar Singh

    (Institute of Management, University of Szczecin, 71-004 Szczecin, Poland)

  • Malgorzata Nermend

    (Institute of Pedagogy, University of Szczecin, 71-415 Szczecin, Poland)

Abstract

Although we have evolved digitally and technologically in the 21st century, disparities still exist in society. The research problem cited for the study is the need to assess the impact of the digital divide in the formation of digital capital, where the already stratified society based on variables such as age, gender, education, and region (rural–urban) will act as moderators to mitigate the digital inequalities for a sustainable world. The research objectives are to explore the underpinning reasons for the digital divide in reinforcing social inequalities, quantify the impact of the digital divide on digital capital statistically, and to evaluate the moderating effect of social strata variables comparatively. The idea of digital capital culminates into five hypotheses for this study as the digital divide impacts digital capital, as well as the assessment of moderating effects of age, education, and region. Statistical tools, specifically frequency, percentage, reliability, ANOVA, correlation, and regression, have been used to test the hypothesis and proposed conceptual model. The social strata dimension in the study revealed a higher variance of opinion. Digital capital is taken as the dependent variable and the digital divide is the independent variable, which shows Beta as 0.591 and B as 0.585, indicating a good relationship of 59.1% and an effect of 58.5%. Finally, the research reveals that there exists a digital divide and, hence, digital inequalities in India need to be addressed for attaining various Sustainable Development Goals. The study has significant implications for the leaders and policymakers to work towards inclusivity by bridging the digital divide and eliminating digital inequalities in India.

Suggested Citation

  • Swapnil Singh & Uma Shankar Singh & Malgorzata Nermend, 2022. "Sustainability in a Digitized Era Analyzing the Moderation Effect of Social Strata and Digital Capital Dependence on Digital Divide," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-22, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:21:p:14508-:d:963620
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/21/14508/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/21/14508/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arso M. Vukićević & Ivan Mačužić & Marko Djapan & Vladimir Milićević & Luiza Shamina, 2021. "Digital Training and Advanced Learning in Occupational Safety and Health Based on Modern and Affordable Technologies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Thierry Pénard & Nicolas Poussing, 2010. "Internet Use and Social Capital: The Strength of Virtual Ties," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(3), pages 569-595.
    3. Paweł Bartoszczuk & Uma Shankar Singh & Małgorzata Rutkowska, 2022. "An Empirical Analysis of Renewable Energy Contributions Considering Green Consumer Values—A Case Study of Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-25, January.
    4. Yanjie Li & Daria Terenteva & Olga Konnikova & Evgenii Konnikov, 2021. "Comparative Assessment of Sustainable Consumption Based on the Digital Information Environment Content-Thematic Component Differentiation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-13, June.
    5. Kinga Hoffmann-Burdzińska & Agata Stolecka-Makowska & Olaf Flak & Marcin Lipowski & Mariusz Łapczyński, 2022. "Consumers’ Social Responsibility in the Process of Energy Consumption—The Case of Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-17, July.
    6. Mateusz Piwowarski & Uma Shankar Singh & Kesra Nermend, 2019. "The Cognitive Neuroscience Methods in the Analysis of the Impact of Advertisements in Shaping People's Health Habits," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(4), pages 457-471.
    7. Guandalini, Ilaria, 2022. "Sustainability through digital transformation: A systematic literature review for research guidance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 456-471.
    8. Katriona O’Sullivan & Serena Clark & Kevin Marshall & Malcolm MacLachlan, 2021. "A Just Digital framework to ensure equitable achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-4, December.
    9. Małgorzata Łatuszyńska & Kesra Nermend, 2022. "Energy Decision Making: Problems, Methods, and Tools—An Overview," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-5, July.
    10. Elżbieta Szaruga & Elżbieta Załoga, 2022. "Qualitative–Quantitative Warning Modeling of Energy Consumption Processes in Inland Waterway Freight Transport on River Sections for Environmental Management," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-21, June.
    11. Hidalgo, Antonio & Gabaly, Samuel & Morales-Alonso, Gustavo & Urueña, Alberto, 2020. "The digital divide in light of sustainable development: An approach through advanced machine learning techniques," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    12. Nicole Zillien & Eszter Hargittai, 2009. "Digital Distinction: Status‐Specific Types of Internet Usage," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 90(2), pages 274-291, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yang Du & Cheng Chen, 2026. "The fusion of tradition and modernity: How intangible cultural heritage content on Douyin is associated with audience cultural identity," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jaroslaw Korpysa & Uma Shankar Singh & Swapnil Singh, 2023. "Validation of Decision Criteria and Determining Factors Importance in Advocating for Sustainability of Entrepreneurial Startups towards Social Inclusion and Capacity Building," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-21, June.
    2. Uma Shankar Singh & Malgorzata Nermend & Swapnil Singh, 2022. "Nurturing Green Consumer Values and Renewable Energy Reliance through Societal Education in Uttar Pradesh for Inclusive Capacity Building," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-26, December.
    3. Uma Shankar Singh & Małgorzata Rutkowska & Paweł Bartoszczuk, 2022. "Renewable Energy Decision Criteria on Green Consumer Values Comparing Poland and India Aligned with Environment Policy for Sustainable Development," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-26, July.
    4. Martínez-Domínguez, Marlen & Mora-Rivera, Jorge, 2020. "Internet adoption and usage patterns in rural Mexico," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    5. Jinshan Zhang & Man Liu, 2024. "How to Leverage Digital Sustainability Orientation to Promote Environmentally Sustainable Practices of Manufacturing Enterprises in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-20, June.
    6. Rafael Martínez-Peláez & Alberto Ochoa-Brust & Solange Rivera & Vanessa G. Félix & Rodolfo Ostos & Héctor Brito & Ramón A. Félix & Luis J. Mena, 2023. "Role of Digital Transformation for Achieving Sustainability: Mediated Role of Stakeholders, Key Capabilities, and Technology," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-27, July.
    7. Joan Torrent‐Sellens & Mihaela Enache‐Zegheru & Pilar Ficapal‐Cusí, 2025. "Promoting the European Sustainable Firm: How Economic, Social, and Green Innovation and the AI‐Based Technologies Create Pathways of Social and Environmental Sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(7), pages 9093-9119, November.
    8. Simon Schmidbauer & Maria Becker & Sonja Haug, 2024. "Online Political Participation of Refugees in Germany: Analysis of a Survey in Bavaria," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(4), pages 21582440241, October.
    9. Tuan Khanh Vuong, 2024. "Factors Affecting Households’ Electricity-Saving Behaviour: A Perspective on Sustainable Development," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, vol. 14(4), pages 440-449, July.
    10. Bayu Kharisma, 2022. "Surfing alone? The Internet and social capital: evidence from Indonesia," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 11(1), pages 1-17, December.
    11. Georges Ngnouwal Eloundou & Blaise Ondoua Beyene & Marius Messoh Lonte, 2023. "In pursuit of Happiness in developing countries: does the diffusion of ICT matter?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 43(4), pages 1730-1740.
    12. Małgorzata Łatuszyńska & Kesra Nermend, 2022. "Energy Decision Making: Problems, Methods, and Tools—An Overview," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-5, July.
    13. Małgorzata Tarczynska-Luniewska & Iwona Bak & Uma Shankar Singh & Guru Ashish Singh, 2022. "Economic Crisis Impact Assessment and Risk Exposure Evaluation of Selected Energy Sector Companies from Bombay Stock Exchange," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-25, November.
    14. Edward J. Oughton & Jatin Mathur, 2020. "Predicting cell phone adoption metrics using satellite imagery," Papers 2006.07311, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2021.
    15. Jiankun Liu & Yueyun Zhang, 2025. "The impact of mobile social network sites on social trust: evidence from the China," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-12, December.
    16. Ake-Kob, Alin & Blazeviciene, Aurelija & Colonna, Liane & Cartolovni, Anto & Dantas, Carina & Fedosov, Anton & Florez-Revuelta, Francisco & Fosch-Villaronga, Eduard & He, Zhicheng & Klimczuk, Andrzej , 2021. "State of the art on ethical, legal, and social issues linked to audio- and video-based AAL solutions," EconStor Research Reports 248470, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    17. Jun Liu & Peng Zhang & Xiaofei Wang, 2025. "Exploring the Mechanisms and Pathways Through Which the Digital Transformation of Manufacturing Enterprises Enhances Green and Low-Carbon Performance Under the “Dual Carbon” Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-25, January.
    18. Inese Mavlutova & Dzintra Atstaja & Janis Grasis & Jekaterina Kuzmina & Inga Uvarova & Dagnija Roga, 2023. "Urban Transportation Concept and Sustainable Urban Mobility in Smart Cities: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-16, April.
    19. Julien Gosse & Chris CM Forman & Nicolas van Zeebroeck, 2023. "Adoption of ICT and Environmental Management Practices: Empirical Evidence from European Firms," Working Papers TIMES² 2023-070, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    20. Bartikowski, Boris & Laroche, Michel & Jamal, Ahmad & Yang, Zhiyong, 2018. "The type-of-internet-access digital divide and the well-being of ethnic minority and majority consumers: A multi-country investigation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 373-380.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:21:p:14508-:d:963620. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.