HOW BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATION SHAPES LEARNING OUTCOMES AND CORPORATE PERFORMANCE: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF CUSTOMER PERCEIVED VALUE IN THAILAND'S CHINESE LANGUAGE STUDY TOUR MARKET

Abstract

This research article aims to: 1) examine how business model innovation (BMI)—operationalized through five dimensions derived from the Business Model Canvas (Value Proposition Innovation, Customer Segment Precision, Channel Digitalization, Customer Relationship Intensification, and Core Resource Orchestration)—affects customer perceived value (CPV), learning outcomes, and behavioral intentions at the user level; 2) investigate the mediating role of CPV in transmitting the effects of perceived BMI on learning outcomes and behavioral intentions, while also exploring how practiced BMI relates to corporate financial and market performance at the enterprise level; and 3) examine the moderating roles of policy environment and digitalization maturity on the BMI–corporate performance relationship, and the constraining effect of cultural distance on the CPV–learning outcomes relationship, in order to clarify the boundary conditions of BMI effectiveness in the Thai Chinese-language study-tour industry. This study conducted an exploratory sequential mixed-methods research study collecting data from 326 study tour participants and 82 enterprise managers (total N = 408) via two independent, non-matched cross-sectional surveys; qualitative data were also collected from 25 industry practitioners through semi-structured interviews; data were analyzed using thematic analysis (NVivo 12), PLS-SEM (SmartPLS 4.0), and bootstrapping with 5,000 resamples.

The research results found that: 1) Perceived BMI significantly predicts CPV (β = 0.728, p < 0.001), and CPV partially mediates the BMI–learning outcomes (indirect effect = 0.413; 56.7% transmission) and BMI–behavioral intentions (indirect effect = 0.386; 55.3% transmission) relationships, while practiced BMI positively relates to corporate performance (β = 0.312, p < 0.001); 2) Policy environment and digitalization maturity positively moderate the BMI–corporate performance relationship (β = 0.215 and β = 0.198, respectively), while cultural distance negatively moderates the CPV–learning outcomes relationship (β = −0.176), indicating that greater cultural differences weaken the conversion of experiential value into learning gains; 3) The proposed “Ed-Tech-Tour” trinity integration model—comprising an Education dimension (personalized curriculum and closed-loop learning), a Technology dimension (AI-assisted learning and data-driven service), and a Tourism dimension (authentic cultural scenarios and stakeholder value network collaboration)—provides a strategic blueprint for transitioning affordable study-tour enterprises beyond price-based competition toward sustainable, value-driven business model innovation.