The Brand Management of Platform-Based Firms: Attracting and Managing External Service Providers
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Research Collection Doctoral Thesis The Brand Management of Platform-Based Firms: Attracting and Managing External Service Providers Author(s): Freiherr von Richthofen, Georg Hubert Gotthard Publication Date: 2019 Permanent Link: https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000373905 Rights / License: In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted This page was generated automatically upon download from the ETH Zurich Research Collection. For more information please consult the Terms of use. ETH Library DISS. ETH NO. 26051 The Brand Management of Platform-Based Firms: Attracting and Managing External Service Providers A thesis submitted to attain the degree of DOCTOR OF SCIENCES of ETH ZURICH (Dr. sc. ETH Zurich) presented by GEORG HUBERT GOTTHARD FREIHERR VON RICHTHOFEN MSc, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam born on 08.05.1988 citizen of Germany accepted on the recommendation of Examiner: Prof. Dr. Florian von Wangenheim Co-Examiner: Prof. Dr. Eileen Fischer 2019 II III Summary Digital technologies and the increasing prevalence of reputation systems have enabled the emergence of platform-based firms that match external providers and consumers of services. The leaders of platform-based firms face a considerable marketing challenge: they rely on external providers as their co-producers, who control most of the customer experience. Nonetheless, platform managers need to ensure a distinctive customer experience in order to differentiate their brands from established service providers in the marketplace. The goal of this dissertation is to give platforms leaders guidance how to deal with this and other challenges. Specifically, Paper 1 explores how platform leaders can navigate conflicting institutional logics their business models are based on. Paper 2 investigates what tactics platform leaders can use to align the service the providers offer with the customer experience the leaders aspire to create. Paper 3 examines how platform leaders can attract and retain service providers. All three papers are based on a qualitative investigation of Airbnb, a platform which matches providers and consumers of accommodation. This dissertation makes several contributions to the platform marketing literature: First, it organizes previously dispersed theoretical and managerial insights according to the marketing challenges platform-based firms face. Second, it develops previous insights in regard to these challenges in more depth. Third, it identifies a number of new tactics and categories of tactics that platform leaders can use to attract and retain as well as manage service providers. In addition, this dissertation also contributes to the literature on the sharing economy. IV Zusammenfassung Digitale Technologien und die zunehmende Verbreitung von Reputationssystemen haben die Entstehung von Firmen ermöglicht, die externe Dienstleister und Konsumenten durch Plattformen zusammenbringen. Die Leitungen solcher plattformbasierten Firmen sind mit einer erheblichen Marketingherausforderung konfrontiert: sie sind auf externe Anbieter als Koproduzenten angewiesen, die einen Großteil der Kundenerfahrung kontrollieren. Nichtsdestotrotz müssen Plattformmanager eine unverwechselbare Kundenerfahrung ermöglichen, um sich von etablierten Dienstleistern im Markt zu unterscheiden. Ziel dieser Dissertation ist es, Plattformleitern Orientierung bei der Bewältigung dieser und weiterer Herausforderungen zu geben. Artikel 1 betrachtet wie die Leiter einer Plattform mit miteinander in Konflikt stehenden institutionellen Logiken, auf denen ihre Geschäftsmodelle basieren, umgehen können. Artikel 2 untersucht, welche Taktiken Plattformleiter anwenden können, um die von den Anbietern bereitgestellten Dienstleistungen mit der Kundenerfahrung, die die Plattformleiter anstreben, in Einklang zu bringen. Artikel 3 beleuchtet wie Plattformleiter Anbieter gewinnen und an die Plattform binden können. Alle drei Artikel basieren auf einer qualitativen Untersuchung der Airbnb-Plattform, die Unterkunftsanbieter und Konsumenten zusammenbringt. Diese Dissertation macht mehrere Beiträge zur Plattformmarketingliteratur: Zunächst organisiert sie existierende theoretische und praktische Erkenntnisse hinsichtlich der Marketingherausforderungen, die sich plattformbasierten Firmen stellen. Dazu vertieft sie frühere Erkenntnisse hinsichtlich der Bewältigung dieser Herausforderungen. Des Weiteren identifiziert diese Arbeit eine Reihe von neuen Taktiken und Kategorien von Taktiken die V Plattformleiter nutzen können um Anbieter zu gewinnen, an sich zu binden, und zu managen. Darüber hinaus trägt diese Dissertation auch zur Sharing Economy Literatur bei. VI Acknowledgements First, I want to thank my supervisor Prof. Dr. Florian von Wangenheim for his continuous support and guidance throughout different phases of the dissertation process. I am especially grateful that he granted me the freedom to choose a research topic I am passionate about and that he encouraged and enabled me to attend conferences and seminars related to this topic. Next, I would like to thank my co-supervisor Prof. Dr. Eileen Fischer for her encouragement, feedback and numerous inspiring discussions; for her guidance in conducting qualitative research; and for hosting me at Schulich School of Business in 2016. I also thank my colleagues at the Chair of Technology Marketing for the conversations, feedback, support, and friendship which made me look forward to come to the office: Sandro Arnet, Nicholas Brüggemann, Zhiying Cui, Marcella Grohmann, Jana Gross, Sabine Keller, Michael Lachner, Marcia Nißen, Prof. Dr. Anne Scherer, Joseph Ollier, PD Dr. Sebastian Tillmanns, and Dr. Marcus Zimmer. I would also like to thank the Chair’s student assistants, notably Pascale Schwab and Xintong Wang, for their support with data collection. Then, I would like to thank my parents, Prof. Dr. Anja Freifrau von Richthofen and Prof. Dr. habil. Alexander Freiherr von Richthofen, whose passion as academics inspired me to pursue a PhD. I am particularly grateful for their support during the final months of the dissertation process. Lastly, I want to thank Sepideh Akhavan Farahani for her consideration, support, and for taking my mind off things every now and then. VII Table of Contents Summary ....................................................................................................................................... III Zusammenfassung......................................................................................................................... IV Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... VI Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... VII Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Paper Overview ............................................................................................................................... 3 Paper Summaries ............................................................................................................................ 4 Summary of Paper 1 ............................................................................................................ 4 Summary of Paper 2 ............................................................................................................ 5 Summary of Paper 3 ............................................................................................................ 6 Discussion and Contributions ......................................................................................................... 8 Contributions to the Platform Management Literature ....................................................... 8 Contributions to the Sharing Economy Literature ............................................................ 11 References ..................................................................................................................................... 13 Appendix I: Full Papers ................................................................................................................ 17 Airbnb and Hybridized Logics of Commercial and Domestic Hospitality ....................... 18 The Brand Management of Platform-Based Firms: An Analysis of Airbnb’s Efforts to Shape the Airbnb Experience ............................................................................................ 47 How Can Platform-Based Firms Attract and Retain Service Providers? Insights from Airbnb ............................................................................................................................. 111 Appendix II: Curriculum Vitae ................................................................................................... 151 1 Introduction The platform model is increasingly changing the way businesses and organizations operate (e.g. McAfee and Brynjolfsson 2017; Parker et al. 2016; Perren and Kozinets 2018; Srnicek 2017; Sundararajan 2016). Instead of producing the core value unit themselves, platform-based firms provide the infrastructure needed to enable value-creating interactions between external producers and consumers (Parker et al. 2016). A notable facet of this phenomenon in consumer markets is the emergence of firms that use platforms to pair people who provide and consume services offline (Perren and Kozinets 2018). Some of these firms, like