Platform Owner Power, Autonomous Complementors, and Unprompted Contributions in Digital Platform Ecosystems: An Empirical Investigation

Digital platform ecosystems exhibit unique interorganizational relationships between platform owners and autonomous complementors on the supply side. Information Systems research highlights that platforms’ success hinges on complementors’ unprompted contributions, i.e., independently developed apps and services. Studies show that platform design and governance, complementors’ capabilities, and the characteristics of past contributions influence unprompted contributions. Yet, complementors’ varying perceptions of the platform owner’s power may also affect the type and quantity of contributions. To understand how perceptions of power shape contributions, we derive hypotheses from power theory and literature on platform- and interorganizational relationships. To test the hypotheses, we match survey and objective data from 219 firms that offer apps in a major mobile app store ecosystem. Our findings suggest that perceived platform owner power drives generative contributions. It does not affect incremental contributions. We contribute to the literature on power in digital platform ecosystems, unprompted contributions, and platform owner strategies.