Information Obesity, Digital Addiction, and Economic Productivity: Empirical Evidence from Turkey
Rahiba Abdulhasanova1 , Aysegul Babaoglu2 , Sadagat Ahmadova3* ,
Flora Alasgarova4 , Tural Abdulhasanov5
Abstract. This article examines the underexplored nexus between information obesity, digital addiction, and economic productivity in Turkey, drawing on a multi-level analytical framework that integrates labour economics, digital studies, and organisational behaviour. While Turkey has experienced rapid digital transformation—with internet penetration reaching 90.9 per cent in 2025—this expansion has been accompanied by rising technostress, workplace distraction, and digital dependency, particularly in major urban centres such as Istanbul and Ankara. Synthesising empirical evidence from cross-sectional surveys, sectoral studies, and national statistical data, the article demonstrates that information overload and compulsive digital engagement erode labour productivity through mechanisms including reduced attention, cognitive fragmentation, weakened safety culture, and diminished work–life balance. These effects are mediated by gender, socioeconomic status, and regional disparities, with women and lower-educated workers disproportionately affected. The article argues that neoliberal labour market reforms have inadvertently fostered digitally saturated work environments that compound the productivity challenge. Policy recommendations advocate for a multi-tiered intervention strategy encompassing mandatory media literacy education, workplace digital well-being programmes, and regionally sensitive digital inclusion initiatives. In so doing, the article situates information obesity within a developing-economy context and proposes a conceptual framework linking habitual digital overconsumption to productive capacity—a connection that the economics literature has been slow to theorise.
Keywords: information obesity, digital addiction, labour productivity, Turkey, technostress, neoliberal policy, digital inclusion, cognitive overload