How Does Digital Literacy Drive the Low-Carbon Production Behavior of Farmers?—An Empirical Analysis Based on an Integrated TAM-TPB Framework

Digital literacy serves as a core capability that enables farmers to integrate low-carbon technologies into their production practices. Clarifying the pathways through which digital literacy influences agricultural production is therefore crucial for promoting the green transformation of agriculture. Based on micro-survey data from 451 farmers in Sichuan Province, this study employed partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM) within an integrated and expanded Technology Acceptance Model-Theory of Planned Behavior (TAM-TPB) theoretical framework to analyze the internal mechanisms through which digital information literacy affects the low-carbon production behavior of farmers. The results show three key features of this system. (1) Digital information literacy has a significant positive impact on farmers' perception of digital technology functions, low-carbon agricultural cognition, willingness to adopt digital technologies, and willingness to improve their digital literacy. Through these factors, it further exerts a positive influence on their low-carbon production behavior. (2) The results of the chain mediation tests for the “digital literacy→cognition/perception→willingness” and “cognition/perception→willingness→behavior” pathways show that low-carbon agricultural cognition partially mediates the effect of digital information literacy on willingness to improve digital literacy, while the perception of digital technology functions also plays a significant mediating role in the pathway from digital information literacy to willingness to adopt digital technologies. (3) When willingness variables serve as mediators, willingness to adopt digital technologies plays a significant mediating role in the pathway from the perception of digital technology functions to low-carbon production behavior, thereby further strengthening the driving effect of functional perception on behavioral transformation. In contrast, the mediating effect of willingness to improve digital literacy in the pathway from low-carbon agricultural cognition to low-carbon production behavior is not significant, suggesting that the transition from cognition to action relies more on external technological empowerment than on self-directed literacy improvement. This study reveals the dynamic pathway through which digital literacy influences low-carbon production behavior via a synergistic mechanism of “cognitive iteration, functional perception, and technology embedding,” thereby providing a theoretical basis for policymakers to develop digital literacy cultivation systems and optimize low-carbon technology promotion strategies.