Multihoming and single‐homing complementors' responses to intensified between‐platform competition: Evidence from the YouTube–Twitch rivalry

Niloofar Abolfathi

Strategic Management Journal, 2026, vol. 47, issue 1, 141-188

Abstract: Research Summary This paper examines how heterogeneous YouTube content creators‐specifically, single‐homing and multihoming channels‐respond to a sudden increase in the exposure of the rival platform, Twitch. Contrary to expectations, I find that multihoming channels reduce their content creation efforts and underperform relative to single‐homers. To make sense of these surprising results, I develop a formal model that characterizes the strategic behavior of different types of complementors operating across two platforms with varying levels of user exposure. The model offers a plausible explanation for the observed empirical patterns, suggesting that intensified competition between platforms, as a consequence of their changing exposure, disproportionately incentivizes single‐homers to enhance platform value while discouraging multihomers from maintaining the same level of engagement. Managerial Summary Should platform owners prioritize multihoming or single‐homing complementors? I address this question by analyzing how YouTube and Twitch content creators responded to a sudden rise in Twitch’s exposure following its bundling with Amazon Prime. My analysis reveals that when the focal platform faces minimal competition from other platforms, multihoming creators tend to generate greater value. However, when between‐platform competition for users intensifies, the dynamic reverses: single‐homing creators increase their efforts and outperform their multihoming counterparts. I argue that these patterns stem from the distinct incentive structures that influence content creators’ behavior. These findings imply that the optimal platform strategy is context‐specific and depends on market characteristics such as the intensity of competition between rival platforms.

Date: 2026
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