Value Creation in Digital Application Marketplaces: A Developers’ Perspective

Abstract

Digital application marketplaces are increasingly relevant for digital platform owners seeking to reap the benefits of distributing, brokering, and operating applications by third-party developers. Owners of such marketplaces have two vital goals: address the needs of heterogeneous end-users and attract third-party developers. A key element in simultaneously accommodating these goals is value creation. However, while there is emerging literature on digital application marketplaces, little empirical evidence exits about the value creation process for and by application developers. Drawing on a research study of third-party developers, we synthesize the value creation perspective and digital platforms literature to develop an understanding of value creation in digital application marketplaces from the perspective of third-party developers. Our study identifies and explores six different value sources and their associated value creation and realization. In doing this, our research extends and complements existing digital platform literature and contributes new knowledge about new forms of value creation.