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ABSTRACT
As digital platform ecosystems grow in prominence, their interconnectedness and complexity also grow, making operational failure likely. How failures in such systems affect user perceptions of separate ecosystem components, however, is not well understood. This research investigates attribution of responsibility and discontinuance recommend ations for ecosystem components after failures of ambiguous origin. Building on attribution theory, platform ecosystems literature, and research on digital borders, we conducted two scenario-based experiments investigating negative consequences of failure for ecosystem components. We also explored contingent effects from design elements (border strength) and contextual factors (disruption severity). Results demonstrated that when failures occur, negative consequences diffuse to all ecosystem components, with apps receiving the strongest discontinuance recommendations. Greater disruption severity increased discontinuance recommendations for the app. Furthermore, border strength between ecosystem components shifted negative consequences for failure toward the platform (e.g., operating system [OS] and device). Perceptions of locus and controllability were the primary mechanisms driving attributions of responsibility for failure. However, contrary to attribution theory, lack of failure stability increased blame for the app instead of reducing it. Despite higher coordination costs, our results indicate the importance of better-integrated ecosystems that experience fewer faults and that app developers bear the greatest burden in delivering this experience. Furthermore, attribution for failure can be shaped by clearly delineated borders. Thus, design decisions affecting border strength should be actively managed by ecosystem participants, and app developers may be incentivized to elevate border strength.
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Notes
1. We note that attribution theory has been used to study two-sided markets [Citation2, Citation38]. However, our focus with this work is specifically on failure in platform ecosystems.
2. Prior to reporting discontinuance recommendations, participants rated the app, OS, and device using the following items taken from McAuley et al. [Citation40]. “The following questions concern the [app, OS, device]. The problem you read about above is something … ” Locus: “That reflects an aspect about the [app, OS, device]” … “That reflects something about the situation”; Controllability: “Over which the [app, OS, device] has power” … “Over which the [app, OS, device] has no power”; Stability: “That is stable over time” … “That varies over time”. All items were on a 7-pt scale and were reverse coded for Table 1.
3. All post-hoc tests are two-tailed.
4. Manipulation check items for goal-directedness and disruption severity were measured on a 7-point Likert type scale with Strongly Disagree and Strongly Agree as endpoints.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Brian Dunn
Brian Kimball Dunn is an assistant professor at the Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University. He received his Ph.D. in Information Systems from the University of Pittsburgh. Previously, Dr. Dunn had a ten-year career in industry in the e-commerce and online marketing roles, His research interests include the brand implications of human-computer interaction, cognitive biases, and user behavior within digital content platforms. His work has been published at Journal of Management Information Systems, Information Systems Research, European Journal of Information Systems, and other venues.
Matthew L. Jensen
Matthew L. Jensen is an associate professor of Management Information Systems and a co-director of the Center for Applied Social Research at the University of Oklahoma. His interests include computer-aided decision making, human-computer interaction, and computer-mediated communication. He studies how people attribute credibility in mediated interactions and how people filter and evaluate information they find online. His research has been published in the Journal of Management Information Systems, Information Systems Research, MIS Quarterly, and other journals. He has been primary investigator or co-primary investigator on externally funded research projects totaling more than $8 million.
Ryan Ralston
Ryan Ralston is the head of research and development at Acumium, a software development firm in Madison, Wisconsin. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Oklahoma. Over a 15-year career as a software engineer, he has worked on legacy system modernization, educational software, cloud computing, and applications for the Internet of Things. Dr. Ralston’s research interests include software verification and validation, formal methods, and software engineering processes.