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In search of complementarities within and across platform ecosystems: Complementors’ relative standing and performance in mobile apps ecosystems
Abstract
Firms can benefit immensely from participating in digital platform ecosystems—specifically, from the shared technological assets and market opportunities offered by the platform owner. Yet, while aligning with the platform ecosystem rules, each member must decide whether to specialize in a given platform ecosystem or across multiple platform ecosystems to capture these benefits. We examine two common patterns through which platform ecosystem members (i.e., complementors ) specialize within and across platform ecosystems, and the relative impact on their market performance. We look at the high relative standing of the complementary product as a reflection of complementors' specialization in the given product category or platform ecosystem. We then theorize that having products with high relative standing in a single product category and a single platform ecosystem, together, diminishes complementors’ market performance over time. Similarly, high relative standing in multiple platform ecosystems and multiple product categories, at the same time, adversely impacts the market performance. We find supportive evidence for our hypotheses, in a panel dataset of mobile app developers. This paper contributes to the burgeoning stream of research that investigates the trade-offs faced by complementors, suggesting that complementor strategies are more complex than simply trying to maximize market reach.
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In the citing paper
“Second, multihoming allows complementors to access a broader audience by operating on more than one platform (Tavalaei & Cennamo, 2021).”
From What role do data network effects play for multihoming complements? An empirical analysis of platform complementors’ strategies for consumer value creation (2025) · cites this paper as Tavalaei & Cennamo, 2021
In the citing paper
“Multihoming grants complementors access to a wider user base (Tavalaei & Cennamo, 2021) and, accordingly, to significantly more and increasingly diverse user data feeding into AI models for data-driven learning.”
From What role do data network effects play for multihoming complements? An empirical analysis of platform complementors’ strategies for consumer value creation (2025) · cites this paper as Tavalaei & Cennamo, 2021
In the citing paper
“Multihoming effects on value creation depend on complement design and platform characteristics (Tavalaei & Cennamo, 2021;Zhao & Aaltonen, 2023)”
From What role do data network effects play for multihoming complements? An empirical analysis of platform complementors’ strategies for consumer value creation (2025) · cites this paper as Tavalaei & Cennamo, 2021
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Metadata
- Authors
- Tavalaei, M. M., & Cennamo, C.
- Affiliations
- University of Surrey (GB)
- Copenhagen Business School (DK)
- Corresponding author
- Cennamo, Carmelo
- Venue
- Long Range Planning
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-10
- Volume
- 54
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 101994
- ISSN
- 0024-6301 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3014095858
- Cited by
- 101
- References
- 66
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 10
- FWCI
- 12.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Long Range Planning (publishedVersion)
- Surrey Research Insight Open Access (The University of Surrey) (submittedVersion)
- CBS Research Portal (Copenhagen Business School) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Digital Platforms and Economics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Innovation and Knowledge Management
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Business Strategy and Innovation
- Keywords
- digital platform ecosystems, complementors, relative standing, market performance, mobile app developers
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