Value Creation Through Digital Agricultural Platforms: A Grounded Theory Study of Longjiang Nongtou with Comparative Insights from CropWizard

Digital agricultural service platforms are transforming rural financial systems by converting public data into actionable credit intelligence, yet the mechanisms underlying this value creation process remain under-theorized. This study employs grounded theory to investigate Longjiang Nongtou in China, with comparative insights from CropWizard in the United States. Based on semi-structured interviews with platform operators, technical staff, bank loan officers, smallholder farmers, and government officials, supplemented by secondary data, we develop a three-stage value creation model comprising data aggregation, credit profiling, and value integration. Our findings reveal that reducing transaction costs through sequential stages—information asymmetry, search and evaluation costs, and contracting and enforcement costs—constitutes the core mechanism enabling rural financial inclusion. A cross-national comparison demonstrates that divergent institutional environments generate two distinct value pathways: credit empowerment for smallholders versus knowledge-based agronomic services. This study offers a processual theoretical framework for data-driven agricultural platforms, extends transaction cost theory to digital agriculture by specifying sequential mechanisms of cost reduction, and provides practical implications for platform operators and policymakers seeking to advance sustainable rural development. It should be noted that CropWizard is examined as a contrasting secondary case based on publicly available documentation, rather than as an equally grounded empirical case.