Factors influencing tourist co-creation value in smart tourism: The role of resources, participation, and technology experience on satisfaction and loyalty

In the smart tourism environment, digital platforms enable tourists to actively participate in creating new tourism values. This study aims to examine how “Tourists’ Resources”, “Tourist Participation”, and “Technology Experience” impact “Co-creation” and “Co-creation Value”, as well as how these factors impact “satisfaction” and tourist loyalty in Ho Chi Minh City. Using Service-Driven Logic as the theoretical foundation, data were collected from 256 tourists and analyzed using PLS-SEM. The findings show that “Tourists’ Resources” have a strong positive impact on “Participation” and “Co-creation”. Meanwhile, “Technology Experience” significantly moderates the relationship between “Participation” - “Co-creation” and “Participation” - “Co-creation Value”, which changes their directions. This finding suggests an important insight: while digital technologies stimulate proactive engagement, they can undermine emotional engagement, thus limiting the effectiveness of value co-creation. These findings advance the theoretical understanding of technology-enabled co-creation in the context of smart tourism and provide practical implications for designing flexible, technology-enabled, customer-centric short-term tours that enhance meaningful tourism experiences in Ho Chi Minh City.