Research On The Influence Of Online Fitness User Relationship Strength On Value Co-creation Behavior

In the report of the 20 th Party Congress,General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out the need to promote the deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy,and to fuel high-quality development with the digital economy.In the digital era,online fitness communities,with their ability to integrate the resources of the fitness industry chain,have become a major venue to help achieve China’s national fitness strategy and are highly valued by both theoretical and practical circles.According to statistics,the growth of fitness APPs in China exceeded 10,000 in 2022,but problems such as low user engagement,untimely training feedback and inadequate value co-creation behaviors have led to over 4,000 fitness APPs declaring failure.Value co-creation,as a new approach to value creation,is seen as an effective means of gaining sustainable competitive advantage in the digital era.As the core subject of value co-creation,the user leads the process of value co-creation and enables the user to implement value cocreation behaviors that create a multi-level value experience for the user and drive up the value of the company,thus helping the company to gain a sustainable competitive advantage.As a result,driving online fitness users to implement value co-creation behaviors has become critical for online fitness companies to gain a sustainable competitive advantage.However,scholars have mainly focused on exploring the impact of interaction,inclusion and empowerment on user value co-creation behavior.Few scholars have focused on the drivers of user value co-creation behavior in the Chinese context.In order to explore the formation mechanism of user value co-creation behavior in Chinese context,this study will be carried out from the following four aspects: Firstly,through literature review,we will explore the dimensions of relationship strength in online fitness communities.Secondly,by combing the literature on value co-creation,relationship strength,value experience,need satisfaction and value co-creation behavior,we will combine theories of synergistic symbiosis,IPO and selfdetermination to develop a theoretical model of the influence of user relationship strength on value co-creation behavior,following the logic of "stimulus →psychological perception → value co-creation behavior" and propose relevant hypotheses.hypothesis.Thirdly,the research questionnaire was designed by using online senior users as the interviewees and combining focus group interviews with existing established scales.Fourthly,SPSS22.0 and Amos24.0 were used to empirically test 471 valid questionnaires from online fitness users to verify the validity of each pathway of the influence of online fitness users’ relationship strength on value cocreation behavior.Based on the above analysis,the study concluded the following.Firstly,each sub-dimension of user relationship strength has a significant positive impact on value experience,except for duration,and reciprocity has the greatest impact on value experience,followed by psychological distance and the least voluntary engagement.Secondly,each sub-dimension of user relationship strength has a significant direct positive impact on need satisfaction,with reciprocity having the greatest impact on need satisfaction,followed by duration,voluntary commitment,and psychological distance.Thirdly,the positive influence of value experience and need satisfaction on value co-creation behavior is significant,and the influence of need satisfaction on value cocreation behavior is greater than the influence of value experience on value co-creation behavior.The above findings reveal the influence of user relationship strength,a variable with Chinese characteristics,on value co-creation behavior,further deepen the understanding of the influence mechanism from user relationship strength to value cocreation behavior,enrich the research results on the drivers of user value co-creation behavior,broaden the research horizon of the drivers of user value co-creation behavior,and provide theoretical guidance for online fitness communities to win a competitive advantage in the market.