Understanding Informal Control Modes on Software Platforms - The Mediating Role of Third-Party Developers' Intrinsic Motivation Completed Research Paper

摘要

Software ecosystem platforms such as Google's Play Store or Apple's App Store rely heavily on highly motivated third-party developers who are eager to invest their time and effort into developing and updating apps for platforms. Platform owners are challenged to find a balance between developers' need for autonomy and a platform's integrity. Despite the widely acknowledged importance of informal control modes in such contexts, limited empirical work exists on how and why clan and self-control affect developers' behaviors and performance outcomes on software platforms. Drawing on control theory and motivation literature, we conducted an online survey with 230 Android developers to examine how developers' intrinsic motivation mediates the effects of informal control modes on developer performance. Our findings show that while intrinsic motivation plays an important role in mediating both informal control modes' effects, clan control exhibits predominantly stronger downstream effects than self-control. Implications for research and practice are discussed.