Abstract: In the era of the new gig economy, algorithms have become a crucial link between platform enterprises and gig workers, serving as a key mechanism for controlling and rewarding gig workers. Gig workers under algorithm control are task-oriented and lack emotional commitment to the platform enterprises, leading them to respond to algorithm control through surface compliance and resulting in lower service performance. Drawing upon resource conservation theory, this study aims to explore facades of conformity behavior of gig workers under algorithm control and examines its mediating role between algorithm control and service performance. Additionally, this study finds that the perceived challenge and hindrance stress of gig workers moderate the relationship between algorithm control and surface compliance. The empirical findings suggest that algorithm control positively promotes gig workers’ facades of conformity, which in turn leads to lower service performance. However, when gig workers perceive algorithm control as a challenging stress, it reduces their facades of conformity behavior. On the other hand, perceiving algorithm control as hindrance stress intensifies gig workers’ surface compliance. These results provide insights into the behavioral strategies and psychological perceptions of gig workers under algorithm control, offering practical implications for platform enterprises to optimize algorithm control strategies and the platform ecosystem.

Key words: algorithmic control, facades of conformity, gig workers' service performance, perception of challenge stress, perception of hindrance stress