Service Value Co-Creation in Digital Platform Business: A Case of Xianyu Idle Trading Platform

Abstract

With the emerging digital platform economy, consumption activities are increasingly integrated in the production process of service platforms, and the development of e-commerce platforms shows a new realm for solving sustainability issues such as resource wasting and urban pollution. This paper investigates the service value co-creation processes in the digital platform context and recognizes the service value output categories under different stages among platform business, platform buyers, and sellers. Using an emergent and representative digital platform, the Xianyu idle trading platform, and adopting an embedded case study design and social media analysis approach, this paper illustrates the service value co-creation practices and value categories among users in each stage of purchase. We find that platform business not only facilitates value co-creations but is also an active participant. This study contributes to both value co-creation and platform business literature, and it sheds light on achieving sustainability in the platform economy and moving toward an environmentally friendly society.