<p>This study investigates the determinants of super app investment behaviour (SAIB) within China’s super app finance (SAF) ecosystems, employing partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) analysis on data collected from 1032 active users. Seven hypotheses are empirically evaluated. The results show that the perceived advantages of financial service products exert a positive driving effect on SAIB, while their perceived disadvantages have a negative impact. Platform advantages universally mediate the relationships between financial service product cognition and investment behaviour. However, platform disadvantages do not exhibit an inhibitory effect on investment behaviour across any demographic group. This finding uncovers an asymmetry with notable implications for digital governance. Demographic factors such as gender, age, occupation, education and income have moderating effects on the above relationships, with effect sizes ranging from 0.20 to 0.95. The results further demonstrate that financial literacy restructures the cognitive pathways of investment behaviour rather than merely adjusting the magnitude of their effects. This conclusion challenges the conventional assumptions of universal platform integration and calls for equity-oriented digital governance frameworks. Such frameworks are critical to ensuring that SAF ecosystems can link global communities to accessible financial opportunities. The Chinese SAF model provides transferable paradigms for emerging and developed economies. Nevertheless, its democratising potential is fully contingent on whether digital governance regards inclusive financial access as an affirmative regulatory mandate.</p>