The differential impact of occupational hazards and organizational support on work-life balance across a cross-cultural agri-digital supply chain

As digital technologies transform agricultural trade, complex agri-digital supply chains involving culturally diverse workforces are emerging. This study investigates the differential impacts of physical and psychosocial occupational hazards on work-life balance (WLB) within the premium durian supply chain linking Malaysia and China. Data were collected from three key occupational groups (N = 70) comprising durian farmers and packers in Malaysia, cold chain logistics workers, and livestream e-commerce sellers in China. Using structural equation modeling (SEM) with bootstrapping, the study tested a framework connecting hazards to WLB through physical and mental health mediators, with perceived organizational support (POS) as a moderator. The results demonstrate that all hypothesized relationships are statistically significant. Physical hazards impair the WLB of Malaysian farmers and logistics workers both directly and indirectly through physical health. Psychosocial hazards characterized by role ambiguity and high-speed digital demands diminish the WLB of livestream sellers both directly and indirectly through mental health. Crucially, POS was found to significantly buffer these negative effects across both groups. The nature of effective support varied by context: structured institutional support was most effective for Malaysian workers, while flexible platform-based support was vital for Chinese digital sellers. These findings offer a dual-perspective contribution to spill over theory and provide actionable insights for improving worker well-being in cross-border agri-digital ecosystems.