Rethinking co-creation in sustainable tourism: a higher-order perspective on well-being and behavioral continuity

Purpose This study develops a formative higher-order construct of temporally phased co-creation in sustainable tourism, integrating pre-trip, during-trip, and post-trip activities into a holistic framework. It examines how this construct influences hedonic well-being, eudaimonic well-being, and future sustainable tourism behavior, thereby addressing the gap in understanding how co-creation across the entire tourist journey generates transformative and sustainability-oriented outcomes. Design/methodology/approach Grounded in the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) model, the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, and the transformative travel framework, the study employs a two-stage Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling approach. Data were collected from 435 domestic tourists in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Findings The results show that holistic tourism co-creation significantly enhances both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being and future sustainable tourism behavior. Mediation analysis reveals two indirect pathways: holistic co-creation increases eudaimonic well-being via hedonic well-being, and it further enhances future sustainable tourism behavior through eudaimonic well-being. Notably, hedonic well-being shows no direct effect on sustainable behavior, suggesting that pleasure alone is insufficient without value internalization. Practical implications Tourism stakeholders should design co-creation opportunities across all travel phases and incorporate reflective elements that help tourists transform enjoyment into meaningful engagement, thereby strengthening sustained pro-sustainability commitments. Social implications The study supports tourism development strategies that foster responsible citizenship, long-term behavioral change, and broader societal transitions toward sustainability. Originality/value This study advances sustainable tourism theory by operationalizing co-creation as a formative higher-order construct spanning the full tourist journey. It further contributes by empirically demonstrating a hedonia-to-eudaimonia conversion mechanism as a prerequisite for long-term sustainable behavior.