From digital divide to consumer adoption of smart city solutions: A systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis

Abstract

The research dedicated to the digital divide has been on the rise over the last three decades, although the individual level of such a phenomenon remains underexplored. This is in line with the citizen-centric trend noted in the research pertaining to consumer reluctance to adopt digital innovations aimed to improve the quality of life as part of smart city solutions. According to studies, consumer participation in development and modification of smart city solutions, for which a city provides the required access and infrastructure, tends to augment their value for consumers thereby boosting their willingness to accept those smart city solutions. By intertwining these research streams, the article explores the factors determining the individual level of digital divide which relates to consumer adoption of smart city solutions through the bibliometric and systematic literature review analysis. The paper aims to propose the antecedents and factors of consumer adoption of smart city solutions based on Motivation, Opportunity, Ability framework underlying the digital divide phenomenon. The results revealed the factors related to motivation, cognition and competence which are to be considered conjointly rather than step-wise. Due to the multifaceted nature of smart city solutions, motivation is triggered by various factors discussed by behavioural, innovation diffusion and technology acceptance theories. By definition, smart city solutions derive from the extant solutions of urban challenges. Hence, competence is related to the previous experience, whereas cognition and willingness to innovate refer to the intention to adopt novel smart city solutions. Theoretically, the study provides propositions to further empirical research in the consumer smart city solutions adoption field. Managerially, it presents the factors to be considered prior to launching smart city solutions.