ABSTRACT
Rapid digitization is transforming rural communities worldwide, yet current scholarship remains dominated by macro-economic analyses. This study examines the micro-dynamics of engagement in E-commerce villages through the lens of lived experience. Drawing on a qualitative case study of Dinglou, China, we analyse interviews with 40 households using a dynamic framework of place attachment. Findings reveal a complex negotiation of change across three dimensions: Affectively, residents experience an ambivalent attachment contingent on economic gain alongside emergent ‘emotional alienation;’ cognitively, they construct a hybrid identity of ‘entrepreneurial rurality’ while navigating tensions between cohesion and rivalry; and behaviourally, they adopt strategies of ‘selective rootedness’ and collective stewardship to mitigate socio-environmental degradation. We argue that economically mediated place attachment creates a duality of resilience and fragility, where emotional alienation threatens long-term sustainability. Consequently, policy must look beyond digital infrastructure to nurture the social infrastructure underpinning community resilience in the digital age.