Digital Transformation for Eco-Innovation: Evidence From Agriculture 4.0 Adoption in Wine Firms

Firms face a fundamental strategic dilemma: how to align digital transformation with environmental sustainability while maintaining competitive advantage. Drawing on the eco-innovation and green business strategy literature, this paper investigates how Agriculture 4.0 technologies act as enablers of sustainability strategies. Using original survey data from 387 Italian wine firms, we examine the relationship between digital adoption, eco-innovation, and competitive positioning within premium segments, reflecting a "win-win" sustainable differentiation strategy. We operationalize eco-innovation through Cleaner Production (proactive) and End-of-Pipe (reactive) strategies. Results show that Agriculture 4.0 adoption is strongly associated with Cleaner Production, with precision agriculture, weather monitoring, and management software emerging as the most effective digital tools to foster eco-innovation, while blockchain and Big Data remain limited due to capability gaps. Importantly, digital adopters are more likely to compete in premium and ultra-premium market segments, suggesting that digital transformation enables sustainable differentiation strategies.