Analyzing Conscientious Service Providers’ Behavior on Instagram: A Clustering-Based Approach to Value Co-Creation

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Management, Faculty of Social Sciences and Economics, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Department of management, Faculty of Social Sciences and Economics, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

10.22111/ijbds.2025.53023.2276

Abstract

Service providers are central to the growth and competitiveness of platform-based businesses. Their collaborative and conscientious behavior plays a pivotal role in driving value co-creation across these digital ecosystems. This study examines how service providers’ conscientious behavior on the Instagram platform facilitates effective value co-creation, highlighting its pivotal role in creating mutual benefits for both providers and service recipients. This study is applied research aimed at examining service providers’ collaborative behavior on the Instagram platform and employs a descriptive survey design. The statistical population comprised all Instagram users acting as service providers, with a purposive, non-probability sample of 235 participants. Based on theoretical foundations and prior studies, collaborative behavior was conceptualized through four dimensions: conscientious behavior, personal interaction, informational behavior, and altruistic behavior. “The validity of the research instrument was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis, and reliability was confirmed through Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability. Following data collection, K-Means clustering was applied to classify service providers, and research hypotheses were tested. The results identified two clusters: conservative conscientious service providers and perfectionistic conscientious service providers. Further analyses indicated significant relationships between informational behavior, altruistic behavior, and personal interactions with both clusters. Additionally, significant differences were observed in altruistic behavior, personal interactions, and informational behavior between conservative and perfectionistic conscientious service providers.

Keywords

References

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International Journal of Business and Development Studies
Volume 17, Issue 2
October 2025
Pages 93-110

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