Abstract: In the face of the ongoing impact of the digital age and profound adjustments in the global economic landscape, how multinational enterprises leverage digital transformation to cope with a complex and changing international environment has become an urgent and significant issue. This paper examines multinational enterprises listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2012 to 2021, utilizing panel regression methods to explore the impact of digital transformation strategy of enterprises on internationalization commitment and the moderating role of legitimacy contexts on this relationship. The study finds: (1) Both endogenous-driven strategy and platform-dependent strategy enhance the construction of internationalization commitment; (2) Successful experiences tend to solidify corporate mindsets and organizational structures, thereby weakening the promotive effect of endogenous-driven strategy on internationalization commitment. Conversely, failed experiences, by promoting corporate reflection and learning, strengthen this positive relationship; (3) The environments with a high degree of institutional voids and cultural loose enhance the positive impact of platform-dependent strategy on internationalization commitment by providing a more tolerant and supportive developmental atmosphere. The conclusions advance the theoretical understanding of how digital transformation strategy of enterprises impact internationalization commitment, provide new perspectives and empirical evidence for Chinese multinational enterprises to utilize digital transformation to carve out international competitive advantages and deeply integrate into the global economy.

Key words: multinational enterprises, digital transformation strategy of enterprises, legitimacy contexts, internationalization commitment