Value co-creation in higher education and quality of college life

Abstract

Grounded on service-dominant logic (SDL), this thesis established a value cocreation framework in higher education to foster quality of college life (QCL) of business students in an emerging market, Vietnam. With a focus on the proactive role of students as co-creators in university experience, this thesis investigated how student value co-creation, which was examined in the participation and the cocreation effort of students, and the interactions of students with instructors and other students, affects student perceived value and QCL. Further, the study also investigated the influential role that mindfulness, which is considered as a personal difference among students’ cognitive psychological state, plays in student value cocreation and QCL. In so doing, this thesis conducted two particular studies to test the above-mentioned relationships using structural equation modeling. Study 1 investigated the mediating roles of process value and outcome value in the relationship between student participation and QCL. Moreover, this study examined whether negative student-to-student interactions moderate the effects of student participation on process value, and on outcome value. Based on a sample of 709 students, the findings indicated that the effect of student participation on QCL was fully mediated by process value and outcome value perceived by students. Further, the negative interactions among students were determined to dampen the positive effect of student participation on process value, but not on outcome value. Study 2 focused on the direct and indirect (via the mediating role of student co-creation effort) effects of student-to-lecturer and student-to-student interactions on QCL. In addition, the moderating effect of mindfulness on the relationship between student co-creation effort and QCL was examined. Based on a sample of 647 students, the findings confirmed the significantly positive effects of student-tolecturer and student-to-student interactions on QCL. Especially, student co-creation effort was demonstrated to be a partial mediator of the relationships between student xi interactions with lecturers and peers and QCL. Further, mindfulness evidently strengthened the impact of student co-creation effort on QCL as a moderator. The findings of this thesis enrich the existing literature on value co-creation in higher education and QCL by elucidating a mechanism that student value co-creation helps enhance student perceived value and QCL. More particularly, this thesis is among the first works to link students’ value co-creation in higher education to QCL which is considered as an ultimate outcome for students in university experience. Accordingly, it extends prior research to consider comprehensively the co-creation role of students by providing an integrated view of the effects of student participation, student co-creation effort, student-to-lecturer interaction, and positive and negative student-to-student interactions in the co-creation process in higher education. Additionally, the process-outcome approach contributes to a deeper understanding of student experience in value co-creation. Finally, this thesis is one of the few studies incorporating mindfulness into a value co-creation framework in higher education to explain how mindfulness facilitates the relationship between student co-creation effort and QCL. The findings of this thesis thereby provide practical implications for academics and administrators in higher education in promoting value co-creation activities and mindfulness practices to enhance QCL for students. The current research has some limitations in sampling methods and research phenomenon reach. Future research should expand to investigate students from various disciplines, levels of study, and markets to provide a more generalization of the extant findings. Besides student-to-lecturer and student-to-student interactions, and the process-outcome approach of value, it is suggested to consider other interaction forms and other value types in value co-creation in higher education. Further, future studies should encompass diverse personal characteristics of students in examining the differences in value co-creation among students.