Developing the University Image through the Customer Value Co-creation in E-learning: A Case Study of Arak University

The spread of e-learning in Iranian universities and higher education institutions over the past years has provided new opportunities for Iranian higher education. One such opportunity is the possibility of extensive interactions between students and universities through e-learning systems and value co-creation opportunities. This study attempts to investigate the relationship between a university's e-learning system, students' co-creation behavior and university's brand image and reputation. For this purpose, the questionnaire tool and the structural equation modeling approach were deployed to study these relationships at Arak University. The questionnaire of this research was developed based on the literature review and after conducting the pre-test and confirming the validity and reliability of the instrument, it was investigated at Arak University. For this purpose, 380 sample questionnaires were collected. The data was analyzed using Smart PLS 3.3 software. The results indicated that the e-learning system features and its applications affect the students' value co-creation behavior. The results also confirmed the effect of students' co-creation behavior on the university's brand image and reputation. In addition, the results revealed that investing in university e-learning and other communication systems and improving their performance and characteristics, can improve the level of students' interactions with the university. These increasing interactions will also lead to the development of the university brand image through the value co-creation behavior and, as a result, in the long term, promote the university ranking level.