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Should I Stay or Should I Go? The effects of Control Mechanisms on App Developers' Intention to stick with a Platform

Although control mechanisms have been widely studied in IS research within and between organizations, there is still a lack of research on control mechanisms applied in software-based platforms, on which the complex interactions between a platform owner and a myriad of third-party developers have to be coordinated. Drawing on IS control literature and self-determination theory, our study presents the findings of a laboratory experiment with 138 participants in which we examined how formal (i.e., output and process) and informal (i.e., self) control mechanisms affect third-party developers’ intentions to stick with a mobile app development platform. We demonstrate that selfcontrol plays a significantly more important role than formal control modes in increasing platform stickiness. We also find that the relationship between control modes and platform stickiness is fully mediated by developers’ perceived autonomy. Taken together, our study highlights the theoretically important finding that self-determination and self-regulation among third-party developers are stronger driving forces for staying with a platform than typical hierarchical control mechanisms. Implications for research and practice are discussed.