Exploring the psychological benefits of value co-creation in tourism: Enhancing hedonic and eudaimonic well-being through empowerment, social connectedness, and positive emotions

This study investigates the psychological benefits of value co-creation in tourism, focusing on its effect on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Although tourism has conventionally been associated with hedonic consumption, less consideration has been given to its fuller potential for bettering more profound psychological outcomes. Therefore, this research fills this gap by investigating how value co-creation activities enhance well-being. In particular, we propose that co-creation enhances positive emotions, empowerment, and social connectedness, providing both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being in the short and long run. We used data from 410 domestic travelers who participated in co-creation during their most recent trips and used structural equation modeling to investigate the links between co-creation behaviors and well-being outcomes. Results showed that positive emotions act as partial mediators in associations of co-creation behaviors with hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. The strongest drivers of psychological benefits involved empowerment and social connectedness. These findings spotlight the emotional and psychological dimensions of tourism marketing strategies, offering the potential for tourism businesses to achieve more significant customer satisfaction and long-term well-being benefits from travelers. These findings have valuable implications for managers pursuing meaningful customer relationships through value co-creation and enhancement of overall well-being through inspiring travel experiences.