Research on the mechanism of sustainable business model innovation driven by the digital platform ecosystem

With the deep convergence of the new-generation digital platform ecosystem and the manufacturing industry together with the pressure of economic, social, and ecological sustainability, companies need to grasp digitalization and sustainability for transformation. Under sustainable development pressures, the digital platform ecosystem has become an important way for manufacturing companies to shift to innovation. In business management, it is of profound significance to make full use of digital technology to build a platform ecosystem and promote sustainable business model innovation. Focusing on the sustainable transformation of manufacturing companies in the digital economy, this paper investigates the driving mechanism of the digital platform ecosystem for sustainable business models. It constructs the research framework of “digital platform ecosystem - sustainable business model innovation”, using the empirical research method to explore the relationship between the five characteristics of the digital platform ecosystem (generativity, convergence, share-ability, modularity, and complementarity) and sustainable business model innovation. The results show that the five characteristics of the digital platform ecosystem have a positive impact on a portion of the five elements of the sustainable business model. Complementarity positively affects value proposition; generativity, modularity, and complementarity have a significant positive effect on value creation; convergence and share-ability positively affect value network; convergence has a positive impact on the financial model; share-ability and complementarity have a significant positive effect on customer interface. These findings may have implications for research into the sustainable business model as they could help manufacturers to understand the functions of the digital platform ecosystem, maximize their resource potential, and use them to promote the development of a sustainable business model.