Model of Migration and Use of Platforms: Role of Hierarchy, Current Generation, and Complementarities in Consumer Settings

  • Authors:

  • Xin Xu;Viswanath Venkatesh;Kar Yan Tam;Se-Joon Hong

  • Affiliations:

  • Department of Management and Marketing, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong;Department of Information Systems, Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701;Department of Information Systems, Business Statistics, and Operations Management, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong;Department of Management Information Systems, Korea University, Seoul, Korea

  • Venue:
  • Management Science
  • Year:
  • 2010

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Abstract

We develop and test a model of migration and use of platforms to explain consumers' reactions to the newest generation of an information and communication technology platform. We draw from information systems and consumer behavior research on adoption and use of technologies, and adapt and incorporate the construct of complementarity from macrolevel research on platform leadership, network effects, and innovation ecosystems. We conceptualize complementarities between the hardware and software platforms, software platform and applications, and applications and services. The complementarities are theorized to influence migration intention, with current generation of the consumer's platform being a key moderator. We empirically validated our model with data collected using two waves of surveys from 4,412 consumers (2,333 consumers in the second wave) before and after the introduction of the third generation (3G) mobile data services platform in Hong Kong. We explained 60% of the variance in migration intention that in turn was strongly correlated with migration to and use of 3G.