A Consumer-Brand Value Co-Creation Framework in Digital Markets

Thesis Abstract

In digital markets, consumer-brand value co-creation emerges as a pivotal mechanism through which brands and users jointly generate perceived value, yet there remains limited empirical understanding of the mechanisms, contingencies, and boundary conditions that govern this process. This study addresses the problem by examining how consumer participation, brand signaling, and platform affordances interact to shape perceived value, trust, commitment, and word-of-mouth in online ecosystems. The aim is to develop and validate a comprehensive framework—the Consumer-Brand Value Co-Creation Framework (CBVCCF)—that explicates the processes and outcomes of co-creation in digitally mediated brand communities. The specific objectives are (1) to identify the antecedents of value co-creation behavior (VCB) including consumer intrinsic motivation, perceived platform legitimacy, and perceived brand transparency; (2) to examine the mediating roles of perceived value, trust, and consumer commitment in the link between VCB and advocacy or repurchase intention; (3) to assess the moderating effects of product category (functional vs experiential) and platform type (social media vs branded communities) on the relationships within CBVCCF; and (4) to propose actionable managerial guidelines for designing platform-anchored co-creation interventions that enhance brand equity. A mixed-methods research design is employed, beginning with a qualitative phase for theory building and instrument development, followed by a quantitative phase for theory testing and refinement. The qualitative stage involves 25 in-depth interviews with marketing managers and 20 focus groups comprising 6–8 active platform participants across three digital market contexts (consumer electronics, beauty and personal care, and fashion). The interview data are analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis to extract dimensions of co-creation value, signaling cues, and platform affordances. The quantitative stage adopts a cross-sectional survey administered to 600 respondents recruited via stratified sampling from three countries, ensuring representation across age, gender, and digital engagement levels. Validity and reliability are established through confirmatory factor analysis, tests of convergent and discriminant validity, and assessments of internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha). The primary data analysis employs structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the hypothesized relationships, complemented by multigroup analysis to explore moderation effects. Additionally, regression analyses are used to probe direct and indirect effects, while robustness checks include bootstrapping for mediation and heteroskedasticity-robust standard errors. The anticipated findings indicate that high levels of consumer intrinsic motivation, perceived platform legitimacy, and brand transparency significantly predict value co-creation behavior, which in turn elevates perceived value, trust, and commitment, culminating in stronger advocacy and repurchase intentions. Perceived value partially mediates the relationship between VCB and trust, while trust and commitment serially mediate the effect of VCB on advocacy outcomes. The effects are stronger for experiential products and on branded community platforms with richer interaction features, suggesting boundary conditions for CBVCCF. The study also expects to identify distinct signaling cues (credibility, responsiveness, transparency) that amplify co-creation value perceptions across platform types. Contributions to knowledge include (a) a theoretically integrated CBVCCF that links value co-creation theory with signaling theory and platform affordance theory within digital markets; (b) empirical evidence on the causal pathways from VCB to advocacy outcomes in online brand communities; and (c) practical implications for managers on designing co-creation interventions, governance mechanisms, and platform architectures that foster sustainable brand equity. The study advances understanding of how consumer participation, when channeled through credible and transparent brand signaling on appropriate digital platforms, can generate measurable value for both consumers and firms. Limitations include cross-sectional data and potential cultural bias given the three-country sample; future research could test the framework longitudinally and across additional cultural contexts or product categories. In conclusion, the CBVCCF provides a parsimonious yet comprehensive map of the mechanisms by which consumer-brand value is co-created in digital markets, highlighting actionable levers for enhancing trust, commitment, and advocacy. Recommendations include investing in transparent brand communication, enhancing platform affordances that enable meaningful participation, and tailoring co-creation initiatives to product category and platform context to maximize perceived value and brand equity.