Platform owners’ selective entry into complementary markets: balancing multiple value capture sources

While prior studies have highlighted value capture related incentives behind platform owners’ entry into complementary markets, they have predominantly focused on value capture from a single source but neglected that a platform owner may need to balance the tension between multiple value capture sources when making entry decisions. With an empirical study on Amazon, this research aims to examine platform owners’ selective entry into complementary markets based on a holistic view on the value
captured from different sources. We propose that a platform owner is more likely to enter the low- and high sales markets compared to mediate-sales markets, and the proportion of high-quality complementors in the markets could moderate above relationship. This study contributes to the literature on platform owners’ entry strategies and value management in platform ecosystem by extending the research focus from single source of value capture to the dynamics between multiple value sources.