Application Developer Engagement In Open Software Platforms: An Empirical Study Of Apple Ios And Google Android Developers

Platform operators rely on external contributions that complement their own development activities. Although previous research has analysed which conditions are beneficial in attracting developers, only scant research is concerned with the motivation and work behaviour of application developers. The authors survey 395 Apple iOS and Android developers to test a model of perceived platform openness, developer work motivation, and resulting behaviour that builds upon self-determination theory. The findings suggest that future research would benefit from a more thorough consideration of platform openness, as not all paths of the model are equally strong for open vs closed platforms.