In Search of Status: The Impact of Niche Players’ Status on Performance in Platform Ecosystems

Long Range Planning, forthcoming Last version under the new title "In search of complementarities within and across platform ecosystems: Complementors’ relative standing and performance in mobile apps ecosystems"

Posted: 23 May 2018 Last revised: 9 Dec 2020

See all articles by M.Mahdi Tavalaei

M.Mahdi Tavalaei

University of Surrey - Surrey Business School

Carmelo Cennamo

Copenhagen Business School - Department of Strategy and Innovation; SDA Bocconi

Date Written: March 1, 2018

Abstract

Small firms can vastly benefit from participating in ecosystems – specifically from the shared technological assets and market opportunities offered by the platform. Yet, while aligning to the ecosystem rules, each member must gain and maintain some distinctiveness to capture these benefits. We examine two common patterns through which niche players compete and survive in a platform ecosystem by achieving status and distinct position. We theorize that achieving high status in a single niche of product categories and a single ecosystem together diminishes niche players’ financial performance over time. Similarly, high status in multiple ecosystems and multiple niches, at the same time, adversely impacts the financial performance over time. Analyzing a panel data of app developers in smartphone ecosystems, we find supportive evidence for our hypotheses. This paper contributes to the nascent stream of research that investigates issued faced by ecosystem members, rather than focusing on the ecosystem hub’s strategies.

Keywords: platform ecosystem; digital platform; co-specialization; status recognition; smartphone app developer

Suggested Citation

Tavalaei, M.Mahdi and Cennamo, Carmelo, In Search of Status: The Impact of Niche Players’ Status on Performance in Platform Ecosystems (March 1, 2018). Long Range Planning, forthcoming Last version under the new title "In search of complementarities within and across platform ecosystems: Complementors’ relative standing and performance in mobile apps ecosystems", Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3176994 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3176994

M.Mahdi Tavalaei (Contact Author)

University of Surrey - Surrey Business School ( email )

Guildford, Surrey GU2 8DN
United Kingdom

Carmelo Cennamo

Copenhagen Business School - Department of Strategy and Innovation ( email )

Kilen
Frederiksberg, 2000
Denmark

HOME PAGE: http://www.cbs.dk/en/staff/ccesi

SDA Bocconi ( email )

Via Bocconi 8
Milan, MI 20136
Italy

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