A Systematic Review on Blockchain Adoption

Abstract

Blockchain technologies have received considerable attention from academia and industry due to their distinctive characteristics, such as data integrity, security, decentralization, and reliability. However, their adoption rate is still scarce, which is one of the primary reasons behind conducting studies related to users’ satisfaction and adoption. Determining what impacts the use and adoption of Blockchain technologies can efficiently address their adoption challenges. Hence, this systematic review aimed to review studies published on Blockchain technologies to offer a thorough understanding of what impacts their adoption and discuss the main challenges and opportunities across various sectors. From 902 studies collected, 30 empirical studies met the eligibility criteria and were thoroughly analyzed. The results confirmed that the technology acceptance model (TAM) and technology–organization–environment (TOE) were the most common models for studying Blockchain adoption. Apart from the core variables of these two models, the results indicated that trust, perceived cost, social influence, and facilitating conditions were the significant determinants influencing several Blockchain applications. The results also revealed that supply chain management is the main domain in which Blockchain applications were adopted. Further, the results indicated inadequate exposure to studying the actual use of Blockchain technologies and their continued use. It is also essential to report that existing studies have examined the adoption of Blockchain technologies from the lens of the organizational level, with little attention paid to the individual level. This review is believed to improve our understanding by revealing the full potential of Blockchain adoption and opening the door for further research opportunities.