Platform adoption by mobile application developers: A multimethodological approach

This paper investigates the factors that influence the adoption of IT platforms by software developers and how those factors differ from those that influence IT adoption by end-users. We take a multi-methodological approach, beginning with an interpretive field study where we interview mobile applic...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Decision Support Systems 2018-03, Vol.107, p.26-39
Main Authors: Song, Jaeki, Baker, Jeff, Wang, Ying, Choi, Hyoung Yong, Bhattacherjee, Anol
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applications programs
Business to business commerce
End users
IT platform adoption
Mixed methods research
Mobile applications
Mobile computing
Multi-methodology
Network externalities
Platforms
Quantitative research
Software
Technological change
Technology adoption
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This paper investigates the factors that influence the adoption of IT platforms by software developers and how those factors differ from those that influence IT adoption by end-users. We take a multi-methodological approach, beginning with an interpretive field study where we interview mobile application developers. In the initial interpretive phase, we identify a comprehensive set of influences on developers' platform adoption, comparing them with the factors that have been identified in previous studies of end-user adoption, noting key differences. In the second phase, we empirically test the factors identified in our interviews. We find several key differences between end-user adoption of IT and developer adoption of IT platforms. Most notably, we observe the importance of network externality considerations when developers make an adoption decision, a consideration that is largely absent for end-users. Our study is among the first to comment on B2B and B2C issues in the adoption phenomenon where developers adopt a platform as technology producers (a B2B consideration) in order to ultimately provide mobile applications to end-users who are technology consumers (a B2C consideration). •Contrasts antecedents of end-user adoption with antecedents of developer adoption•Extends individual-level adoption research by identifying new antecedents•Multi-methodological approach, combining initial interviews with survey data•Analyzes survey data using PLS•Identifies importance of network externalities in developer adoption
ISSN:0167-9236
1873-5797
DOI:10.1016/j.dss.2017.12.013