Student Value Co-creation Behaviour in The Higher Education Service Ecosystem: An Empirical Exploration

Abstract

This article addresses students’ value co-creation behaviour, framed by the Service-Dominant logic approach, within the context of the marketization of the higher education service ecosystem. The objective is to explore how students integrate their cognitive and behavioural activities during their academic trajectory. The study surveyed 375 first-year undergraduate students, all with weighted grade point averages (GPA) in the range of 8.5 to 9.5 out of 10, at a public university in Mexico, a region characterized by a strong presence of the prevalent passive customer-student analogy tendency. A principal component analysis was also conducted to assess the grouping of the eight original dimensions included in the scale implemented for this ecosystem. In addition, a non-hierarchical cluster analysis was employed to categorize the students according to their co-creation behaviour. The results identify three segments of students: the first with a high willingness to cocreate value, the second characterized by a proactive attitude but lack of interest in relationships with peers and teachers, and the third characterized by a low level of co-creation in all dimensions assessed. These findings highlight that not all students engage in co-creation behaviours during their academic pursuits, even when they achieve outstanding grades. The results suggest some considerations for operationalizing value co-creation in the context of the educational service ecosystem, highlighting its implementation as a dynamic and nonlinear process, considering predelivery and postdelivery. It also highlights the relevance of involving students in activities beyond traditional activities during their service experience. Finally, this study stresses the need to adopt a long-term perspective rather than seek immediate student satisfaction, suggesting the importance of designing more sustainable educational policies and strategies.