A Value Co-Creation Model in Social Commerce

In this theorizing paper, we posit that the key advantage of social commerce (SC) is co-creating values and providing win-win outcomes for all actors involved. This article crystallizes three types of actors (the platform, the sellers, and the buyers) in SC environments and synthesizes four values discussed in SC literature (instrumental, transactional, expressive, and relational). We illustrate the possible forms of value co-creation by using a real-world scenario to represent these actors' interplays and the ties they develop while generating and benefiting from these values. We then forge an SC value co-creation model with three propositions for the value-creating processes resulting from actors' interactions and engagement with technical features presented in SC environments. We encourage researchers and practitioners to continue conceptualizing and empirically validating related vital ideas.