COVID or VOID: A systematic literature review of technology adoption and acceptance in hospitality and tourism since the breakout of COVID-19

Abstract

The purpose of this study was twofold. The first goal was to review and synthesize research pertaining to ‘technology acceptance and COVID-19’ from the years 2020, 2021, and early August 2022 in the realm of hospitality and tourism. The second goal was to dwell on the relevant technology adoption studies in order to provide a critical analysis and extract insights for future research theoretically and practically. A systematic literature review was performed. Findings indicate that some constructs were not properly used like perceived enjoyment and some constructs were overlooked like perceived interaction. Additionally, besides technology features, the characteristics of consumers need to be investigated to reveal the true underpinnings of the technology adoption behavioral process. However, inquiries regarding consumers’ traits need to be expanded beyond basic demographics (e.g. age and gender). The paper systematically garnered technology acceptance research from the COVID-19 era in order to provide insights for future research directions in the post-COVID era. This work identified a lack of consensus over the theoretical underpinnings of technology acceptance research among tourism hospitality researchers. The study revealed the narrow research lenses focusing on particular empirical domains, mainly hotels, restaurants, and museums, and overlooking other contexts (e.g. airports, stations, within-city transportation, and events).