Digital participation in later life has become essential for accessing services, marketplaces, healthcare, government platforms, and digital consumption practices. In marketing, however, technology is explained through individual-level adoption models, offering limited insight into how participation is sustained over time. Emerging research highlights the complexity of digital engagement in later life, framing it as paradoxical and requiring ongoing coping strategies (Wilson-Nash and Tinson, 2022), yet these accounts remain largely individualistic. This paper asks: How is digital participation sustained through informal digital support, and what role does emotional labour play in shaping these interactions? Drawing on ongoing qualitative research with Latin American families in Melbourne, the study uses in-depth interviews and participant diaries capturing episodes of digital support. An iterative, theory-informed analysis identifies relational patterns. Findings inform a conceptual framework that positions emotional labour as a central mechanism of relational digital participation within digital consumption. Three strategies: anticipatory alignment, empathic suppression, and emotional scaffolding. These strategies emerge from patterns in how older adults and their supporters jointly manage expectations, frustration, and relational tensions while navigating digital platforms (e.g., telehealth, appointments, and online services). Importantly, emotional labour is enacted by both parties, reflecting the interdependent nature of participation. Over time, emotional labour accumulates, shaping trajectories by enabling or constraining confidence, reinforcing interdependencies, and contributing to withdrawal. Theoretically, this research advances marketing by extending relational perspectives on consumption, conceptualising participation as co-constructed through interdependent actors rather than individual consumers. It introduces emotional labour as a mechanism for sustaining digital participation beyond individual coping.