Virtual Identity, Real Perception? Stimulating User Behavior and Promoting Value Co-Creation in Metaverse Cultural Heritage Tourism

Abstract As a key form of cultural digitalization, metaverse cultural heritage tourism (MeCHT) is reshaping how users interact with cultural resources. Enhancing users’ perceived value to foster positive experiences has become an urgent challenge. This study adopts a value co-creation perspective, integrating Service-Dominant Logic with Avatar Theory. It constructs a new theoretical framework to explore how users co-create perceived value through their behaviors and avatar characteristics. Based on 562 valid responses, dual empirical analyses were conducted using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The PLS-SEM results indicate that: (1) Both participation behavior and citizenship behavior significantly enhance users’ cognitive value and affective value; (2) Behavioral realism and self-congruence significantly promote co-creation behaviors, while form realism exerts a significant effect only on participation behavior; (3) Co-creation behaviors partially mediate the relationship between avatar characteristics and perceived value, though the mediating effect of form realism is not fully supported. The fsQCA results further reveal that: (1) In high-value configurations, citizenship behavior is core, with self-congruence and participation as key supports; (2) In low-value configurations, the absence of form realism and low levels of other conditions weaken perceived value. This study offers both theoretical and practical implications for improving MeCHT experiences. This study provides both theoretical insights and practical guidance for improving users’ perceived value in MeCHT.