What co-creation for what value? A study at a Brazilian university

Measures adopted to face the pandemic, such as social distancing, have made universities intensify value co-creation efforts to enable students to maintain their learning. However, the result of these efforts, in terms of value generated for students, remains little explored in the literature. This study aims to analyze the relationship between co-creation capacities (CCs) and the types of values generated for their students. Quantitative research using structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted. The sample consisted of 361 undergraduate and graduate students from a private, not-for-profit university in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The results suggest that the capacity for relational interaction is associated with four types of value (functional, epistemic, social and image) and the capacity for ethical interaction is related only to the image value. The capacity for individualized interaction was not associated with any type of value. The research shed light on the relation between co-creation capacities and value generated in higher education institutions and helps university managers to explore and develop specific capabilities to generate certain types of value for students.