Abstract:
The study examines the crucial role of value co-creation impacts on customer loyalty (attitudinal and
behavioural loyalty) in the Chinese self-service food industry, especially in “Hot Pot,” also known
as “Huo Guo,” taking into account the mediating impact on customer trust and satisfaction. The
authors collected 377 valid Chinese customers’ questionnaires to assess the conceptual model with a
purposive sampling method, and data were analyzed using SmartPLS3 software. The findings show
that value co-creation positively impacts customer satisfaction, whereas satisfaction fully mediates the
association between value co-creation and trust. The findings further portray that consumer satisfaction
partially mediates the association among value co-creation and attitudinal and behavioural loyalty.
Based on the results, another key finding is that consumer satisfaction has an insignificant impact
on behavioural loyalty. Notably, the findings provide a menu of potential managerial implications to
enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.
