Relationship between customer knowledge management and the value co-creation of fitness application customers: Mediating role of flow experience

Abstract

Purpose This study examined the impacts of customer knowledge management and flow experience on customer value co-creation and the mediating role of flow experience in the context of fitness apps. Design/methodology/approach Using the questionnaire star platform to edit the questionnaire and collect data(n = 450). A structural equation modeling test was conducted to examine the relationships between the variables. Findings The findings reveal that in a fitness app service scenario, customer knowledge management has a significant positive impact on customer flow experience, customer flow experience has a significant positive impact on customer value co-creation, and customer flow experience plays a partial mediating role in the path from customer knowledge management to customer value co-creation. Practical implications The results could help fitness-app-related enterprises or service organizations understand the factors influencing and processes of customer participation in value co-creation and thus could help such enterprises and organizations formulate effective marketing strategies to realize customer value co-creation and ultimately to achieve their development goals. Originality/value Using value co-creation theory and customer-dominant logic, this study analyzed the effects of customer knowledge management, flow experience, and customer value co-creation in the context of fitness apps and examined the mediating role of flow experience. The findings fill a gap in the theoretical research regarding customer value co-creation in the context of fitness apps and expand the scope of research on customer knowledge management and flow experience.