User Behavior on Value Co-Creation in Human–Computer Interaction: A Meta-Analysis and Research Synthesis

Value co-creation in online communities refers to a process in which all participants within a platform’s ecosystem exchange and integrate resources while engaging in mutually beneficial interactive processes to generate perceived value-in-use. User behavior plays a crucial role in influencing value co-creation in human–computer interaction. However, existing research contains controversies, and there is a lack of comprehensive studies exploring which factors of user behavior influence it and the mechanisms through which they operate. This paper employs meta-analysis to examine the factors and mechanisms based on 42 studies from 2006 to 2023 with a sample size of 30,016. It examines the relationships at the individual, interaction, and environment layers and explores moderating effects through subgroup analysis. The results reveal a positive overall effect between user behavior and value co-creation performance. Factors including self-efficacy, social identity, enjoyment, and belonging (individual layer); information support, social interaction, trust, and reciprocity (interaction layer); as well as shared values, incentives, community culture, and subjective norms (environment layer) positively influence value co-creation. The moderating effect of situational and measurement factors indicates that Chinese communities and monocultural environments have more significant effects than international and multicultural ones, while community type is not significant. Structural equation models and subjective collaboration willingness have a stronger moderating effect than linear regression and objective behavior, which constitutes a counterintuitive finding. This study enhances theoretical research on user behavior and provides insights for managing value co-creation in human–computer interaction.