How platform enterprises compete through suppliers: the mediation role of supplier value co-creation between digital platform capabilities and competitive advantage

Despite growing research interests in a single enterprise-based competition, the existing literature has primarily focused on the emergency of competitive advantage. The digital platform offers unprecedented opportunities for competition between enterprises, with only a limited understanding of whether, how and when digital platform capabilities affect platform enterprises' competitive advantage. This study investigates how the digital platform capabilities of platform enterprises contribute to their competitive advantages through supplier value cocreation. The study also examines how digital market exploration moderates this relationship. Based on an analysis of 386 valid questionnaires, the results indicate that digital platform capability positively affects platform enterprises' competitive advantage, supplier value co-creation mediates the relationship between digital platform capability and platform enterprises' competitive advantage, and digital market exploration positively moderates the relationship between digital platform capability and supplier value co-creation. The findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of why platform enterprises with digital platform capabilities perform better in building competitive advantage and provide new insights on how a platform enterprise can achieve better competitive advantage to address competitive challenges effectively.