The Influence Of Co-Creation Signals On Observers’ Co-Creation Intention

As service-oriented logic has gradually developed into a new paradigm in marketing,consumers have changed from the exchange and extractor of value to the creator of value.Creating value together with consumers has become a common marketing practice for enterprises.As an important information carrier in enterprise marketing communication,co-creation signal will not only act on consumers who have participated in co-creation,but also have an important impact on consumers who have not participated in co-creation,that is co-creation observers.Compared with a few consumers who have participated in co-creation,more consumers are value co-creation observers,how to effectively release the co-creation signal to attract the majority of observers to actively participate in value creation activities is what enterprises need to explore.Therefore,it is necessary to study the influence mechanism and boundary of co-creation signal from the perspective of co-creation observer.Existing research on co-creation mostly focuses on consumers who have participated in co-creation,but less on how to motivate observers who have not participated actively in co-creation.Most of the researches on co-creation signal discuss the observer’s interpretation of co-creation signal from the perspective of similarity,but few scholars explain it from the perspective of self-determination.Therefore,based on the S-O-R model and combined with the self-determination theory and signal theory,this study focuses on the influence mechanism of co-creation signal on observers’ cocreation intention,and investigates the moderating effect of mental simulation.Through scenario experiment and empirical analysis,this paper draws the following conclusions:(1)co-creation signal has a significant positive impact on observers’ co-creation intention,and self-designed co-creation signal makes the observer have stronger cocreation intention than self-produced co-creation signal;(2)Self-determination and its dimensions play a mediating role between co-creation signal and observers’ co-creation intention;(3)Mental simulation moderates co-creation signal and sense of selfdetermination,sense of autonomy and sense of belonging,but has no moderating effect on co-creation signal and sense of competence.From the perspective of self-determination,this study explores the mechanism of co-creation signal on observers’ co-creation intention,and investigated the effect of mental simulation on co-creation signal transmission and utility play,which extends and enriches the influence mechanism,result effect,and application boundary of cocreation signal,and has certain theoretical significance.In addition,the research conclusion also inspires enterprises should pay attention to co-creation observers and actively output co-creation signal.In this process,the marketing communication strategy of mental simulation can be used to optimize the presentation form of cocreation signal,improve the effectiveness of signal transmission,strengthen consumers’ cognition of co-creation and guide them to actively participate in co-creation activities,which has certain practical value.