Order matters: Breaking cognitive lock-in through occasional preferential use of a rival app

Abstract

Although growing attention has been paid to the use of competing technologies, little is known about how occasional preferential use of the rival system (OPUR) affects individuals’ adoption of the dominant system. In this study, we investigate how OPUR breaks the cognitive lock-in of the dominant system in the app context. The results demonstrate that supplementing OPUR reduces (increases) user access to the dominant (rival) app. In addition, the OPUR effect is more salient for high-demand and female users. Our results demonstrate that OPUR provides a great opportunity for catching-up apps to offset the first-mover advantage of dominant apps.