Rethinking Value Co-Creation and Loyalty in Virtual Travel Communities : How and When They Develop

Although the user stickiness of virtual travel communities has been widely discussed, few studies have explored the formation mechanism of user loyalty from the perspective of value co-creation. Using trust theory and value co-creation theory, this study explores the antecedent and consequence of value co-creation behavior in virtual travel communities (VTCs), and its condition in value co-creation outcomes (attitudinal and behavioral loyalty). Data from a two-wave survey were collected from 214 active users in a Chinese virtual travel community (Mafengwo). Results showed that user trust has a positive relationship with two dimensions of value co-creation behavior, namely, breadth participation and depth participation. Compared with breadth participation, depth participation is more conducive to cultivating both attitudinal and behavioral loyalty. Breadth participation has an inverted U-shaped influence on behavioral loyalty, but it does not significantly impact attitudinal loyalty. Community service quality (CSQ) positively moderates the relationship between depth participation and attitudinal loyalty. After controlling for the effect of attitudinal loyalty on behavioral loyalty, this study found that CSQ negatively moderates the relationship between depth participation and behavioral loyalty, which can be explained by the sunk cost of resource investment. This paper discusses the development mechanism of community loyalty in more detail, and systematically examines the specific roles of user trust (individual factor), CSQ (platform factor) and co-creation behavior (individual-platform interaction factor) in that. Corresponding practical implications and limitations are also discussed