The Agent-based Value Co-creation Behaviors in Online Health Communities and Its Influencing Factors

Abstract

In order to explore the mechanism of value co-creation behaviors in online health communities, a multi-agent conceptual model was constructed to simulate the dynamics of value co-creation in different online health communities. The corresponding results deny that the more trust community members have in each other, the better it is to co-create values in the community, suggesting to manage communities according to their patterns and the conditions of community members. According to our research data, to improve the mindsets and knowledge reserves of community members is the key to strengthen value co-creation in online health communities.