Exploring the Value Co-creation Mechanism in Online Travel Communities: Value Co-creators, Engagement Activities, and Interactions

Online travel communities, with their diverse resource-based activities, serve as platforms for distinct user groups to interact and co-create unique forms of value. This research investigates the mechanisms of value co-creation in an online travel community context. By using netnography and semi-structured interviews with 32 online community users and employees, it identifies eight types of value co-creators and examines their engaged activities and interactions. The findings reveal that diverse engagement behaviors, coupled with the interconnection between online and offline interactions, facilitate the value co-creation process in an online travel community. This study advances the current tourism literature by developing a typology of value co-creators in online travel communities and sheds light on how value is co-created by multi-actors through both online and offline activities and interactions. Tourism organizations can utilize these findings to foster engagement and co-create value with and for stakeholders in online travel communities. Also available in Chinese. See Supplemental Material for details.