Motivations of application developers: Innovation, Business model choice, release policy, and success

This study provides insights into the success of smartphone applications (apps) based on the chosen business model and version release strategy, and relates these variables to the motivations of their third-party innovators in the smartphone operating system market. The analysis is based on a questionnaire focusing on motivational factors and demographics of developers, coupled with secondary data on the apps themselves and their success. We find that apps developed due to the personal needs of the developer for new functionalities result in higher success in terms of number of downloads, whereas many of the intrinsic motivations outlined in user innovation theory do not have a significant impact on app success. Our findings imply that while some insights from user innovation theory are applicable to understanding factors that contribute to the potential success of apps, the smartphone application software ecosystem has its own dynamics, including the absence of learning effects over several apps that require further focus and more in-depth research.