Building a Platform’s User Base : An Investigation of Value-driven Lock-ins in Digital Service Innovation

Digital platforms facilitate interactions across distinct groups of users, gaining value from the number ofusers adopting it through network effects. A key concern is how to scale the platform’s user base andservices. Although studies detail strategies for scaling a platform’s user base, much emphasis is on platformsthat exercise proprietary ownership over core platform components. This paper draws on the notion ofvalue-driven lock-ins to understand how platforms scale in ecosystems where control of core componentsis distributed across multiple actors. To investigate how platform owners, operationalize value-driven lockinsin scaling platforms in such contexts, we trace resource configurations that facilitate scaling of serviceinnovation from an open API platform. Our findings suggest that a key focus in establishing value-drivenlock-ins involves resource configurations that seek to reduce the cognitive distance between platformowners and distributed actors. Ensuring participation in such ecosystems requires trust aligned withprogressive access to services.