A Study of the Impact of Innovation Diffusion on the Organizational Performance of Digital Logistics Platforms

The maritime and logistics sector is undergoing digital transformation, positioning digital logistics platforms (DLPs) as important tools for improving operational coordination, information visibility, and organizational performance (OP). However, prior studies have mainly examined platform adoption, digital capabilities, or macro-level performance outcomes, while paying insufficient attention to the micro-level cognitive and experiential mechanisms through which DLP innovation diffusion is translated into OP, particularly in the Chinese maritime logistics context. Grounded in an integrated framework combining the Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) paradigm, Diffusion of Innovations Theory (IDT), and the Extended Technology Acceptance Model (ETAM), this study investigates how DLP innovation diffusion affects OP through perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), and flow experience (FE). Using survey data from 400 professionals in Chinese maritime and logistics enterprises and second-order structural equation modeling (SEM), the results show that DLPs’ innovation diffusion significantly enhances PU, PEOU, and FE. PU has the strongest standardized effect among the paths from DLPs’ innovation diffusion to the mediators (β = 0.779), whereas FE has the strongest direct effect on OP (β = 0.279) and the largest mediating effect. These findings clarify the cognitive–experiential pathway linking DLPs’ innovation diffusion to OP and inform DLPs’ implementation in maritime logistics.