The dynamics of value co-creation behavior: A systematic review and future research agenda

Abstract

Value co-creation (VCC) continues to gain traction as a marketing concept in several service contexts. Given the limited understanding of how the VCC process translates into customers' actual behavior, VCC behavior (VCCB) describes the involvement of customers in the VCC process and includes active behavior during physical, virtual, and mental processes. Extant research on co-creation unveils the antecedents and consequences of VCCB; however, no single study has assimilated the various factors that interplay in the actual co-creation process. This systematic literature review of 136 research papers published from 2004 to June 2023, obtained from the Web of Science database, provides an overview of the existing empirical studies on VCCB. We used the established integrated theories, contexts, and methods-antecedents, decisions, and outcomes (TCM-ADO) framework and identified the important TCM used in the VCCB research. This review further identified 88 distinct antecedents classified into seven broad categories, decisions, and outcomes of VCCB. Additionally, we synthesized the mediators, moderators, and control variables used in extant studies. The review-based research findings demonstrate future research directions for each dimension of the TCM-ADO framework. The research questions presented in this study are set as a future research agenda to further comprehend the nuances of the VCCB that will help service firms implement the VCC process to its full potential.