Abstract
The sustainability of superior performance is a vital goal for complementor in mobile platform ecosystem, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to realize it. The previous literature about the sustainability of superior performance is insufficient and lacks deep research the mechanisms that affect the sustainability of superior performance. Based on user-oriented perspective, this study examines the direct and interactive effects of app’s iterative innovation and visibility on the sustainability of complementor’s superior performance. Using a two-way fixed effect model and monthly panel data, with the final dataset of 4596 observations from 384 apps of top-ranking positions by revenue available from December 2018 to December 2019 on the Apple iOS App Store in China, the results show that a) app’s iterative innovation and visibility (including platform recommendations and download rankings) promote the sustainability of app’s superior performance; b) platform recommendations and iterative innovation have a synergistic effect on the sustainability of app’s superior performance; and c) the download ranking has a substitution effect on iterative innovation to promote the sustainability of app’s superior performance. The findings of this study have theoretical and practical implications for improving the sustainability of app’s superior performance in the digital age.
Highlights
While the sustainability of superior performance is a vital goal for complementor in mobile platform, it is becoming increasingly difficult to realize it [1]
Based on the panel dataset, this study explores how app’s iterative innovation and visibility—including platform recommendations and download rankings—directly affect the sustainability of app’s superior performance
The correlation coefficients between all of the explanatory variables did not exceed the critical value of 0.5, and the variance expansion factor (VIF) of the model was less than 3, indicating that there was no collinearity in this study
Summary
While the sustainability of superior performance is a vital goal for complementor in mobile platform, it is becoming increasingly difficult to realize it [1]. Mobile platform provides the important entrepreneurial opportunities for complementor, and the hypercompetitive environment for sustaining superior performance. IOS platform is orchestrated by Apple (the platform firm) and app (complementor), which interact with the specific handset and operating system combination offered by Apple. In 2019, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in China, the total number of Chinese apps in the Apple iOS platform exceeded 1.5 million. With more and more apps (complementors) flooding mobile platform, the sustainability of apps’ superior performance is challenged by the following issues:
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