AI, Platforms, and Ecosystems in Digital Services

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10125/112420

Browse

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7

Domino Effects of AI: Spillovers from New App Launches on Developer Portfolio
(2026-01-06) Hojjati, Yalda; Sookraj, Niyanta; Kalgotra, Pankush
Disruptive innovations often transform digital platforms by reshaping how value is created and consumed, altering dynamics across the entire ecosystem. Among these, AI has emerged as a fast-moving and transformative force. Mobile applications serve as a key channel for delivering AI-powered services, making them crucial for studying AI’s broader impacts. This study explores how launching a new AI app affects the demand for a developer’s existing apps and how this relationship depends on the AI composition within the developer’s portfolio. Leveraging data mining, we constructed a unique six-month biweekly panel dataset from Apple’s App Store. Two-way fixed effects regression models reveal that new AI app launches increase demand for existing apps, especially when the developer’s portfolio is primarily non-AI. However, this effect weakens as the portfolio becomes more AI-heavy. These findings contribute to the demand-spillover and disruption literature and offer practical insights for managing AI integration in digital ecosystems.
Cloud or On-Premise? A Strategic View of Large Language Model Deployment
(2026-01-06) Shi, Jiaqi; Zhang , Zhoupeng (Jack); Tang, Shaojie
Large language models (LLMs) have advanced rapidly in recent years. We examine a critical decision faced by an LLM provider: whether to provide a local (on-premise) service channel in addition to cloud services. We develop a game-theoretical queueing model to analyze the economic and welfare implications of introducing an on-premise model. Our results show that offering the localization option can reduce the provider's optimal profit due to market cannibalization, yet increase users' overall surplus. Such market outcomes can be reinforced by users' privacy concerns, but may reverse when users differ significantly in their service valuations, as localization enables the provider to extract users' surplus more effectively. When localization is offered through a third party, price discrimination can further increase surplus extraction; however, the double marginalization along the AI supply chain may offset these gains. Finally, in competitive markets, localization may prompt an entrant to lower the quality of their cloud services to limit cannibalization, thereby softening price competition with the incumbent to some extent. Overall, our analysis highlights the strategic trade-offs in LLM deployment and provides guidance on pricing and localization decisions.
Marketing Analytics in the Digitized B2B Landscape: Insights into Lead Generation in Software-as-a-Service Firms
(2026-01-06) Hassan, Amelia; Mero, Joel; Laukkanen, Tommi
B2B lead generation is increasingly shaped by digitalization, with Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) customer acquisition in particular relying on digital marketing (DM) touchpoints to create awareness, capture intent, and drive pipeline generation. Using 24 months of marketing and sales analytics from a dataset of 17,548 companies, this study evaluates firm and market-initiated touchpoints in a B2B SaaS firm through a first click attribution model to assess short and long-term effectiveness. We do not find a statistically significant difference in the actual sales value (short-term) of leads generated through firm-initiated versus market-initiated DM touchpoints. We find a statistically significant difference in the forecasted sales value (long-term) of leads, with firm-initiated DM touchpoints outperforming market-initiated ones. Firm-initiated DM touchpoints have a higher first click to customer ratio than market-initiated. We frame the analysis through absorptive capacity theory to underscore how firms can leverage marketing analytics to enhance lead generation and create data-driven marketing strategies.
Design for Function, not Feeling: How Data-Driven Product Design Influences Consumer Perception
(2026-01-06) Briem, Timo; Schober, Dominic
As product-service systems become increasingly important, product design takes on a crucial role. Companies use Data-Driven Product Design (DDPD) to boost product development while simultaneously benefiting their services. However, research has not yet analyzed how consumers perceive products that are developed using DDPD. This quantitative study investigates how DDPD influences consumer perception and how this is moderated by consumers' purchase motivation. An online vignette experiment was conducted to measure consumer perception of a smartphone across seven product dimensions. Using structural equation modeling, results show that DDPD significantly affects consumer perception, with strong positive effects on perceived customization, convenience and usability, and negative effects on data privacy and product quality. Overall, the perception of DDPD is positive. Hedonic purchase motivations reduce the positive effects of DDPD, indicating a misalignment between DDPD and emotionally driven product characteristics. The findings advance theory and inform practitioners how to tailor DDPD strategies.
AI in International Marketing: How Digital Service Firms Standardize and Adapt Marketing Across Borders
(2026-01-06) Ojala, Arto; Mudiyanse, Thilini; Fraccastoro, Sara; Gabrielsson, Mika
This study explores how digital service firms apply Artificial Intelligence (AI) in their international marketing efforts. Specifically, we examine how these firms use mechanical, thinking, and feeling AI to standardize, adapt, and personalize their international marketing to international customers. Based on a qualitative multiple-case study, including five Finnish digital service firms, we find that mechanical AI helps different marketing processes related to standardization of marketing mix elements. Thinking AI, commonly used together with mechanical AI, is applied to facilitate the adaptation of product, promotion, and pricing strategies for foreign markets and customers. Feeling AI is applied to personalize the marketing offer based on individual customer needs. Based on these findings, we suggest three propositions that advance research on this topic, and which indicate how each type of AI relates to different stages of the marketing process and various marketing mix elements. This study contributes to research and practice in international marketing by offering a detailed view of how digital service firms apply AI in in their global marketing efforts.
Cracking the AI Code: Understanding the Boundaries of AI-Driven Promotions in Consumer-Packaged Goods
(2026-01-06) Penttinen, Valeria; Hultman, Magnus; Frösén, Johanna
Artificial intelligence (AI) holds great promise for improving marketing decision-making, yet its real-world performance implications remain underexplored. This study investigates how AI-informed promotional planning tools affects sales outcomes in the consumer-packaged goods (CPG) sector using a large-scale dataset provided by a leading European firm. Drawing on over 65,000 SKU-level observations across three national markets and several product categories, we examine how varying levels of AI implementation influence sales performance and identify boundary conditions determining its effectiveness. Our findings reveal significant variation in AI’s performance effects: in some categories, AI adoption exhibits U-shaped or inverted U-shaped relationships with sales, while in others, results remain consistently neutral or even negative. Moreover, market leadership status strengthens the positive effects of AI, underscoring the importance of organizational context. By integrating an empirics-first approach with the dynamic capabilities perspective, this study advances understanding of how AI-enabled decision tools influence business outcomes in digitally transforming ecosystems.
Introduction to the Minitrack on AI, Platforms, and Ecosystems in Digital Services
(2026-01-06) Ojala, Arto; Fraccastoro, Sara; Gabrielsson, Mika

Browse

Recent Submissions