How optimal distinctiveness shapes platform complementors' adoption of boundary resources
研究了平台互补者采纳边界资源的决策，发现竞争者的采纳先增加合法性后降低差异化能力，形成倒U型关系，并受互补者绩效和平台投入度影响。
Abstract Research Summary What drives platform complementors to adopt boundary resources? We address this question by drawing on optimal distinctiveness. We suggest that competitors' adoption of a platform boundary resource on the one hand increases the legitimacy of the resource, but on the other hand decreases a focal complementor's ability to differentiate by adopting it. We therefore hypothesize an inverted U‐shaped relationship between prior and future adoption of a platform boundary resource. In a dataset of health and fitness apps on the Apple iOS platform and through three online experiments, we find support for this relationship and for the existence of two important complementor‐specific contingencies that moderate this relationship. This paper expands our understanding of how optimal distinctiveness drives the dynamics of platform‐mediated markets. Managerial Summary In platform markets, complementors face a dilemma: which of the available platform boundary resources should they adopt? We show that a focal complementor's decision to adopt a boundary resource is the result of a strategic trade‐off between the desire to be both legitimate and to be differentiated from competitors. The result is that initially many complementors adopt the boundary resource and it becomes viewed as increasingly attractive by other platform complementors. However, over time as many complementors have adopted the boundary resource, the remaining complementors begin to shy away from adopting it because they worry that doing so might hurt their ability to be differentiated on the platform. These results are shaped by the complementors' performance and how dedicated they are to the platform.