The role of a central actor in increasing platform stickiness and stakeholder profitability: bridging the gap between value creation and value capture in the sharing economy

To survive and prosper, firms need to be able to capture the value they create. The role of the central actor in developing a viable multi-stakeholder platform resides in its ability to continuously manage synergies between the value it enables and creates, and the value it appropriates. However, capturing value is more difficult than its creation, which often results in a rather short lifespan of many platform-based businesses. Existing literature, however, neglects the role of the central actor in orchestrating value in these platforms, and mostly focuses on mechanisms through which diverse stakeholders gain financial benefits and appropriate value for themselves. With an aim to contribute to this research field, we draw upon stakeholder theory and a longitudinal case study of HeadBox, the first online B2B sharing economy-based platform that enables businesses to offer and hire inspiring off-site spaces and associated services in the United Kingdom. We put forward a Platform Stickiness – Stakeholder Profitability Framework that establishes the missing connection between value creation and value appropriation by the central actor in multistakeholder platforms. The framework integrates eight ‘value-driving’ mechanisms that impact the central actor’s ability to establish synergies between value creation and capture within a platform.