Empirical Studies on the Role of Input Control on Digital Platforms

Digital platforms such as Android, Uber or Airbnb have become hotspots of economic interactions between complementors (i.e., producers) and end-users (i.e., consumers). As the number of complementors and offered complements on digital platforms grow, platform providers need to exercise control to align their interests and strategies with those of the complementors. To manage complementors and their complements, platform providers draw on control modes. In this thesis, control mode refers to set of mechanisms employed by platform provider to control (e.g., approve, guide and monitor) complementors and their complements on digital platforms. To advance the emergent research in the field of control modes on digital platforms, this thesis focuses on a control mode that is widespread in practice but has been largely overlooked in IS research so far, namely input control. Input control can be described as the set of mechanisms used by the platform provider to screen and sort out complementors and their complements before entering the digital platform. Within five articles, this thesis addresses the role and importance of input control on digital platforms by investigating the effects of input control in four different platform contexts (i.e., mobile applications, web-browsers, crowdfunding and e-marketplaces). The first article describes the development of an enhanced conceptual definition for input control and a corresponding measurement scale for questionnaire-based survey research that helps us measure input control more accurately and gauge its impact on platform complementors. The developed measurement scale was rigorously validated in the context of mobile application platforms (i.e., Android and iOS) based on the guidelines and recommendations in extant scale development literature. The second article deals with the distinction between complementor-related and complement-related input control mechanisms that address complementors and complements, respectively. Using a combination of quantitative (i.e., survey) and qualitative (i.e., interviews) methods applied in the context of web-browser platforms (i.e., Chrome and Firefox), the results revealed that both mechanisms affect complementors’ overall perception of input control on digital platforms. Moreover, the results showed that complementors’ perceived usefulness of and satisfaction with a digital platform served as an important driving force through which perceived input control affects complementors’ continuance intentions. Drawing on IS control literature and goal attainment theory, the third article addresses the effects of input control and self control on complementors’ intentions to stay on their respective digital platform. Results of an online survey with complementors from two major reward-based crowdfunding platforms (i.e., Kickstarter and Indiegogo) revealed that input control reduces and self control increases complementors’ willingness to stay. Interestingly, these effects can be explained through the comparison of associated usefulness and effort of using the digital platform. The fourth article investigates the impact of input control and clan control in the context of e-marketplace platforms (i.e., Amazon and Etsy). The results revealed opposing effects of input control and clan control on complementors’ beliefs, attitudes and behavioral outcomes. In particular, whereas input control had a negative effect on complementors’ perceived usefulness, satisfaction and continuance intention, clan control exerted a positive effect on the observed variables. The fifth and last article examines the influence of input control on complementors’ performance. Results of a field survey with sellers on Amazon indicated that input control reduces complementors’ intrinsic motivation, resulting in a lower performance on a digital platform. Surprisingly, the findings revealed that input control has no direct effect on complementors’ performance when accounting for intrinsic motivation. Taken together, this thesis showcases the role and importance of input control and provides a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of how complementors perceive and react to input control mechanisms on digital platforms. Furthermore, the findings shed light on the underlying explanatory mechanisms of why the effects of input control on digital platforms unfold. As such, this thesis answers several calls for research in platform governance and control literature, and lays the foundation for future studies on digital platforms. The overarching contributions of this thesis for research consists of (1) investigating the effects of input control on complementors’ behavior and performance outcomes on digital platforms, and (2) exploring input control in various platform contexts with unique circumstances and influences as well as in combination with other control modes. Additionally, this thesis provides crucial insights for platform providers on how and why input control mechanisms affect complementors behavior and performance outcomes. The findings therefore provide valuable impetus for platform providers to maintain platforms’ long-term success und sustainability.