Business model design for novel technologies in nascent industries: An investigation of 3D printing service providers

3D printing services are theorized to facilitate the transformative capacity of novel 3D printing technology. However, research lacks a precise understanding of how firms conduct business in this nascent industry. This paper examines the business model designs of 3D printing service providers by applying an original mixed-methods approach of qualitative content analysis and cluster analysis. We extract and compare the narratives that 141 service providers use to describe their businesses to discover latent business model design patterns. Results indicate that there are five distinct patterns, namely “the digital market place model”, “the single-tech specialist model”, “the local service center model”, “the multi-tech champion model”, and “the allrounder model”. These patterns are fundamentally intertwined with specific 3D printing processes and digital technologies. Results also reveal that firms currently utilize key advantages of 3D printing such as sustainability aspects insufficiently in their business models. By disentangling the business model designs, our research extends prior knowledge and contributes to a more precise understanding of the value propositions, value creation, and value capture. Further, we add to a more elaborated and accurate understanding of the interplay between business model design and novel technology in nascent industries.