The Complementor’s Dilemma: Navigating Growth Ambitions and the Dependency on Focal Actors in Platform Ecosystems

The literature on platform ecosystems increasingly recognizes that nonfocal actors such as complementors may have growth ambitions. Such ambitions, if successfully advanced, may even elevate the complementor’s position in the platform ecosystem to that of a focal actor. However, transitioning from nonfocal actor to focal actor is challenging. Along the way, the nonfocal actor may need to choose between the seemingly unfavorable alternatives of acting on its growth ambitions—risking losing the focal actors’ support needed for that growth—or relinquishing its ambitions to ensure the support of the focal actors continues. Referring to this phenomenon as the complementor’s dilemma, we unpack the process whereby a nonfocal actor can pursue growth ambitions while successfully managing relationships with the focal platforms in the ecosystem. To address this research problem, we conducted an in-depth, embedded case study of a Chinese short-form video platform, Douyin (known as TikTok outside of China), from its inception as a complement in 2016 to its establishment as a focal actor in 2018. During this two-year period, Douyin grew spectacularly from 0.75 million to 208.28 million users. We examined the process through which Douyin navigated the complementor’s dilemma multiple times within the confines of its dependency on Weibo and WeChat, the focal actors in China’s social network platform ecosystem. We contribute to the platform ecosystem literature by offering a process perspective that conceptualizes the complementor’s dilemma and theorizes how to navigate the dilemma when transitioning from a nonfocal actor to a focal actor in a platform ecosystem.