Identifying the value co-creation behavior of virtual customer environments using a hybrid expert-based DANP model in the bicycle industry

Abstract

Since 2008, soaring international oil prices and environmental awareness have pushed bicycle to be a green transport vehicle to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as a significant global trend. Consequently, Taiwan's bicycle industry earned the "bicycle kingdom" has entered a new peak period of demand under popular social trends of bicycling for health conscious and a healthy exercise tool; thus, to co-create value with customers to retain the reputation is important for Taiwan's bicycle industry. In Internet age, plus the prevailing of service-dominant logic, virtual customer environments (VCEs) can be greatly leveraged to promote customers' active engagement in the value co-creation activities. After an extensive literature review, this study organizes a hybrid expert-based DANP model based on the applications of multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) tools, such as decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL)-based analytical network process (ANP), for investigating the iterative and dynamic nature of customer's engagement and value co-creation behavior in the key bicycle industry in Taiwan. In the empirical study of analysis, the use and gratification framework of prior studies is validated on concerning the dynamic value co-creation behavior in bicycling VCEs and yields the following empirical results: (1) Tribal behavior drives the pursuit of realized benefits through VCE engagement and affects the related participation and citizenship behaviors in turn; (2) recognize the importance of social influences toward personal commitment and engagement of bicycling activities and related VCEs; and (3) four broad types of interaction-based benefits derived from engagement in VCEs include cognitive, social integrative, personal integrative, and hedonic benefits. The major research findings on theoretical implications and managerial implications provide helpful insights on marketing of Taiwan's bicycle industry.

Big data reduction framework for value creation in sustainable enterprises

“…Such data reduction facilitates the development of trust between customers and enterprises and opens direct channels of communication and product and service delivery. Similarly, knowledge-based data sharing facilitates the improved behavioral analysis of customers' data at a fine-grained level, thereby facilitating the delivery of personalized products and services to maximize the revenues and build long-term relationships (Chuang & Chen, 2015). Moreover, early data reduction improves the overall cost structure of enterprises by balancing the operational and optimization costs of business process models.…”

Re-purchase intentions and virtual customer relationships on social media brand community

“…From the study on Zara case, Royo-Vela and Casamassima [12] have demonstrated that the higher the level of participation in a virtual brand community, the higher the positive word-of-mouth advertising towards the brand around which the community is developed. Chuang and Chen [61] also did a research on the relationship between virtual customer participations and WOM. Additionally, members with high identification are more prone to contribute the organization with several desirable cooperative behaviors of helping other members and spreading good references [14,45,53,62].…”

Consumer Participation in Co-creation: Investigating the Moderating Role of Empathy

“…They indicated that exposure to public service ads directed at antichild abuse stimulates negative emotions (anger, sadness, fear and tension) leading to empathic responses influencing the decision to help. Rosenbaum and Massiah (2007) noted that customers usually recall difficulties that they encountered before and use it to form a strong sense of empathy and social responsibility to help other customers facing similar difficulties (Chuang and Chen, 2015). Bharti, Agrawal, and Sharma (2014) show that empathy is an important factor in influencing customers to participate in value co-creation activities.…”