Rethinking value in the age of Industry 5.0: A postmodern framework for human-centered and ethical innovation

This study proposes an integrative framework synthesizing postmodern value pluralism, co-creation theory, human-centered design, and Industry 5.0 into a single conceptual model. This study translates abstract postmodern value dimensions into operational measures suitable for structural equation modeling. Drawing on 153 peer-reviewed studies synthesized via systematic qualitative coding (Atlas.ti) and refined through three rounds of expert validation, we evaluate the model using cross-sectional survey data from 480 participants. We find preliminary, sample-specific support for the framework's internal construct validity (acceptable factor loadings, AVE, and HTMT). However, several hypothesized directional paths, including those from human–environment interaction, informational, and symbolic dimensions to economic value perception, were not statistically supported. These null findings temper any confirmatory interpretation and indicate where theoretical refinement is needed. Practical diagnostic utility in applied settings was not examined and should not be inferred from these results. Accordingly, the framework should be viewed as an initial, provisional step: it offers a theoretically grounded conceptual model with preliminary evidence of internal construct validity, but its findings are hypothesis-generating rather than confirmatory. Independent replication, longitudinal testing, and field validation are required before causal, generalizable, or prescriptive claims can be made. Therefore, this framework is offered as a theoretically grounded, preliminarily validated conceptual prototype, not as a validated diagnostic instrument, with explicit need for field validation, longitudinal replication, and practitioner-based usability studies before any prescriptive application.