Market-Related and Relational Factors in B2B Platform Ecosystems: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda

Abstract

Digital platforms have gained in popularity in B2B markets, leading to increased interest from researchers in IS and neighboring disciplines. Transferring findings from the much-studied B2C platforms is difficult as the two environments differ in numerous ways. Therefore, we argue that there is a need for a deeper understanding of the specific characteristics of B2B platform ecosystems in existing literature, especially from market and relational perspective. Conducting a systematic review with a focus on B2B platform literature from IS and neighboring disciplines, we identify and discuss three relational and four market-related dimensions. This paper contributes to the understanding of B2B platform ecosystems by structuring existing research and by providing starting points for future research.