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Abstract [en]
In this paper, we investigate how the launch timing of new apps due to launch competition affects new apps’ download performance. This was done using a 2-year panel data set of 1,100 U.S. Apple App Store apps divided into four categories (entertainment, gaming, productivity, and health and fitness). The study contributes to the literature on the determinants of mobile apps’ economic performance, including ratings and reviews, app updates, and revenue models, by investigating an understudied determinant—the launch timing of new apps. Using random effects panel regression analysis, we report how backward launch competition, cross-category launch competition, and release-date launch competition affect download performance differently for hedonic value- oriented (e.g., gaming, entertainment) and utilitarian value-oriented (e.g., productivity, health, fitness) apps—and moreover demonstrate these effects’ persistence over time. Important implications for app developers and app platform providers are discussed, as are directions for further research.
Keywords
app launch timing, app release, app competition, utilitarian, hedonic, app platform ecosystem
National Category
Economics and Business Other Engineering and Technologies not elsewhere specified
Research subject
Industrial Economics a nd Managemen
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:bth-23656 (URN)
2022-09-162022-09-162023-01-31Bibliographically approved