Driving the Green Transition in the Digital Economy: How Leader Prosocial Motivation and Workplace Digitalization Shape Employee Green Innovation Intention

As organizations globally pursue the twin transitions of digitalization and sustainability, whether digital tools inherently facilitate green objectives remains a critical debate. Drawing on Social Information Processing (SIP) theory, this study develops an affective–cognitive dual-path model, examining how perceived leader prosocial motivation catalyzes employees’ green innovation intention. Utilizing a mixed-methods design in China, we first conducted a scenario-based experiment (Study 1, N = 184) to establish internal validity, followed by a two-wave, multi-source field survey (Study 2, N = 428) across diverse industries to enhance ecological validity. Regression analyses confirm that perceived leader prosocial motivation positively relates to employees’ green innovation intentions. This relationship is mediated by green organizational identity and green mindfulness, underscoring the pivotal role of individual affective and cognitive factors in translating organizational green visions into employee innovation. Crucially, we reveal a critical signal interference effect: high workplace digitalization acts as a negative boundary condition that weakens the positive influence of leader motivation. Our findings highlight the necessity for leaders to cultivate and signal prosocial motivation to effectively inspire employees’ green innovation intentions. Furthermore, our study challenges the synergy myth of the twin transition. We provide critical insights for digital governance by revealing that excessive digital embedding can trigger cognitive overload and attention fragmentation among employees, ultimately stifling the organizational green transition.