Attention Scarcity and Value Competition in the Digital Economy

Abstract

The proliferation of digital platforms has transformed human attention into one of the scarcest and most contested economic resources of the twenty-first century. This article examines how attention scarcity structures value competition among firms, platforms, and users in the digital economy, synthesizing theoretical and empirical literature published between 2021 and 2026 on attention markets, platform market power, and value extraction. Using a systematic conceptual literature synthesis, twenty-five peer-reviewed and preprint sources were identified, screened, and integrated into an Attention Scarcity-Value Competition (ASVC) framework connecting the cognitive foundations of attention, the algorithmic mechanisms platforms use to capture it, and the institutional and regulatory responses these mechanisms provoke. The findings indicate that platforms compete not merely for market share but for finite units of user attention, converting sustained engagement into advertising rents, data assets, and social value signals. This competition produces asymmetric value extraction, cognitive lock-in, and mounting regulatory scrutiny under competition and antitrust law. The article's principal contribution is a multi-level framework distinguishing micro (cognitive), meso (platform-strategic), and macro (institutional-regulatory) layers of attention-driven value competition, addressing a persistent gap in literature that has treated these layers in isolation. Implications are discussed for platform governance, digital marketing strategy, and future measurement of attention as an economic currency