The perceived value co-creation and the degree of value co-creation of Chinese senior travellers: a case study in Guizhou Province (China)

Abstract

Gifted with the reality that the number of aged people has been growing at a high rate of speed from year to year, China has great potential to benefit from the development of senior tourism. Besides, value co-creation has become a more and more attractive research topic in tourism context. However, although previous research (including both English and Chinese literature) has paid considerable attention to value co-creation, few studies have focused on senior travellers’ attitudes on value co-creation in tourism industry. As mentioned above, since more and more Chinese seniors show great interest in tourism-related activities, especially in the post era of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is essential to better understand how Chinese senior travellers think of value co-creation in travel. Hence, this study is one of the first to attempt to offer a comprehensive knowledge of Chinese senior travellers’ perceived understanding of value and value co-creation and to establish and test a theoretical model that contains structural relationships among Chinese senior travellers’ attitudes, willingness, motivations, the degree of value co-creation, and satisfaction in the sector of travel agency in China.

To achieve the aim of the research, the author employed mixed methods. Firstly, a total of 21 interviews were conducted to provide practical support and credibility for the scale development in relation to the perceived understanding of value co-creation and the theoretical model. Secondly, a small-scale survey was conducted in Guiyang city, which provided 508 valid responses for item purification and refinement. Thirdly, a big-scale survey was conducted in Guizhou province, which provided 812 valid responses for scale validation and model evaluation.

The key findings of this study are presented as follows: firstly, seven dimensions (including benefit/interest, creativity, interaction, usefulness, cooperation, goal orientation, and support) have been identified to conceptualise the understanding of value co-creation from the Chinese senior traveller’s point of view. Secondly, senior travellers’ degree of value co-creation is directly affected by three internal factors (attitudes, willingness to co-create, and motivations) and one external factor (perceived company support). Thirdly, this study confirmed that the degree of Chinese senior travellers’ value co-creation would positively influence their satisfaction.

Based on these findings, both theoretical and practical implications have been developed. This study is one of the first to address how Chinese senior travellers understand value and value co-creation in travel and how their attitudes, willingness, motivations, degree of value co-creation, and satisfaction are associated in the context of travel agencies through analysing the direct relationships between constructs. Practical recommendations are provided for three types of stakeholders including Chinese senior travellers, travel agencies, and policy makers.