Quantity or Quality? The Dynamics of Competition between First-Mover Ecosystem and Latecomer Ecosystem:

Case Analysis of the Online Cooking Recipe Service Market

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the dynamics of competition among ecosystems in markets where network effects work, especially the indirect network effects of work. This study focuses on a different point of view than that of the installed base, which consists of the total number of complementary products, services, and end users in the ecosystem. Specifically, this study deliberates the research question of what entry and competitive strategies latecomer ecosystems can take in the market where there is a first-mover ecosystem that reaches the “winner-takes-all” position, from the standpoint of “quality” of ecosystems, through the comparative case analysis between ecosystems in the online cooking recipe service market. In conclusion, this study has derived a mechanism in which a latecomer ecosystem, as a result of redefining value proposition in cooking recipe services, successfully entered into the market. This could be done by placing importance on such viewpoints such as not the number of recipes but the comprehensibility and findability of recipe videos, and letting them be controlled by a platform itself as a core company of the ecosystem without leaving the recipes to complementors.