Toward a theory of value co-creation in digital leisure experiences

Value co-creation has been widely recognized and applied as a key strategy for designing personalized and memorable leisure experiences. In particular, digital platforms, along with their technological affordances, have unprecedentedly empowered leisure consumers with increasing agency to engage in and co-create their own leisure experiences. However, limited research has examined how digital service providers can effectively facilitate co-creation to enhance consumers’ digital leisure experiences. This dissertation aimed to investigate the dynamics and multi-layered nature of value co-creation in digital leisure contexts. This dissertation used an abductive approach to develop a theory elucidating the relationships between specific antecedents, interactional mechanisms, and value outcomes associated with co-creation in digital leisure. Using TikTok as the focal platform, the study explored three facets of value co-creation: (1) the technological, operational, and institutional affordances provided by the digital platform; (2) digital platform users’ engagement with platform affordances through three co-creation practices spanning consumption, creation and sharing, as well social interaction encounters; and (3) the conditions under which value co-creation failed and the recovery strategies employed by both users and the platform to restore lost values. Adopting a multi-stakeholder perspective, this dissertation drew on in-depth interviews with TikTok employees, travel content consumers, and travel content creators. Through integrating backstage platform design considerations with frontstage consumer experiences, the study offered a more holistic and practical understanding of value co-creation in digital leisure. Accordingly, the findings developed actionable insights for the design of personalized, engaging, and user-centered digital leisure experiences.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Recreation, Sport, and Tourism

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Du, Xin

Contributors dc:contributor

• Liechty, Toni
• Soulard, Joelle
• Santos, Carla
• Freeman ,. Patti
• Sharaievska, Iryna

• Value Co-creation
• Value Co-destruction
• Tiktok
• Social Media
• Digital Leisure Experiences
• Technological Affordances

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Xin Du

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/130141

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F130141