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Despite an increasing amount of research on cocreation value, research on participants’ value-in-use in third-party managed virtual communities remains limited. This study explores how participants perceive value-in-use through their participation in third-party managed virtual communities and the influence of the participants’ value-in-use on three cocreation behaviors typical of these communities: information searching, feedback, and coinnovation activities. Participant value-in-use is a multidimensional construct consisting of five dimensions: informational value, entertainment value, social integrative value, personal integrative value, and community interactivity. We also consider whether use of different platforms (website, mobile app, or both) exerts a moderating effect on this cocreation process and identify significant differences in the relationships proposed based on the platform the participants use to access the virtual community. The research is contrasted empirically using the virtual community TripAdvisor. The PLS-SEM method is used to test the model proposed. In comparing the website and mobile app models, the results show significantly stronger effects on the relationships in the route “informational value-participants’ value-in-use-information searching” for the website. Also, we find a stronger route for personal integrative value-participants’ value-in-use-feedback among users of the mobile app than for website users. In the case of participants who use only one platform (website or mobile app) rather than both (website and mobile app), the weight of use of one technology rather than both is significantly greater in coinnovation. This study enriches previous studies that advance theories of cocreation value and provides companies with practical guidance to identify and encourage cocreation behaviors and enhance the perceived value-in-use of virtual community participants.

Retail management of store brands (SBs) has focused on achieving positioning in value and creating associations of smart or expert shopping. The result is that value-conscious consumers and market mavens are the main targets of these brands. This study proposes and contrasts empirically a theoretical model of the effect of market mavenism and value consciousness on consumer identification with SBs. We also perform a multi-group analysis based on the consumer tendency to be loyal to the brands he or she buys. Consumers who are loyal to brands are very attractive segments for firms, due to the potential benefits these consumers represent in the long term, whereas consumers with little loyalty to brands can be an attractive segment for potential benefits in the short term. The results obtained in this study show differences between these two groups. For consumers who are loyal to brands, the results stress strong identification with the SB among the most value-conscious consumers, due fundamentally to their greater disagreement with the greater functional risk of these brands as compared to manufacturer brands and due to their greater conviction of the better price-quality ratio of SBs. In consumers with little brand loyalty, we find identification with the SB among the consumers with the greatest market mavenism, as a result of their greater perception of smart or expert shopping for these brands. Significant implications for management are derived from this study.

Value co-creation by users in a virtual community is a key element of the community's value and sustainability. This paper first analyzes the effect on co-creation behavior of (1) users’ altruism and (2) users’ interactivity with the different firms housed in the virtual community. It considers different sustainable co-creation behaviors based on intensity, distinguishing between moderate or high intensity, where recommendation of the service represents a moderate level of co-creation and co-innovation at a high level. Both behaviors are oriented not only to the firms housed in the virtual community, but also to the virtual platform itself. Second, the study proposes whether users’ perception of their expertise about the services and/or firms housed in the community exerts a moderating effect on the proposed modelling. Empirical contrast is performed using the virtual community TripAdvisor. This study contributes to current academic research on co-creation and sustainability. The results show that the user's altruism is the determining factor in encouraging moderate sustainable co-creation behavior (recommendation of the service), whereas user–firm interactivity is the critical antecedent for fostering high-level co-creation in the form of co-innovation activities. The results vary, however, depending on the segment of virtual community users analyzed (expert vs. non-expert). This study also contributes to formulation of business strategies to foster sustainable co-creation behavior with greater repercussions for long-term participation in the virtual community.