Digital entrepreneurship and the emergence of coopetitive affordance

Purpose By focusing on the contextual conditions of South African digital entrepreneurs and the affordances of digital technologies, we understand how connective affordances of digital technologies enable a collective approach to digital entrepreneurship. Design/methodology/approach We do so through an interpretive field study of South African digital entrepreneurs operating in resource-constrained settings. Findings The findings highlight how entrepreneurs appropriate digital technologies in collectives to achieve connective actions and cooperate and compete simultaneously, giving rise to what we call coopetitive affordance, reflecting a fresh perspective on coopetition in increasingly digital and resource-constrained realities. Originality/value This paper extends the connective affordance perspective by illustrating how the concept of coopetitive affordance brings to light how contextual conditions create a humanitarian bond between entrepreneurs and a digital bond created by their appropriation of digital technologies in collectives.