Unraveling users’ digital technology adoption in horticulture 4.0

Abstract

Horticultural production is often capital intensive and generates high economic value, creating strong potential for the use of digital technologies (DTs). However, their adoption remains constrained by a wide range of determinants. Existing studies have examined DT adoption in horticulture from different perspectives and theoretical frameworks, but the evidence remains fragmented. This systematic review synthesizes current knowledge on DT adoption by distinguishing three adoption constructs: willingness to adopt (WTA), behavioral intention (BI), and usage behavior (UB). Following PRISMA guidelines, 129 empirical studies were included in the systematic review, of which 54 contributed data to the meta-analysis. The qualitative synthesis shows that studies of BI mainly focus on psychological and social determinants, whereas studies of UB more often examine technical, knowledge, social, infrastructure, and institutional determinants. Evidence on WTA remains comparatively limited. The meta-analysis shows that age, social influence, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use are significantly associated with BI. For UB, significant positive associations were found for sex, education level, training participation, planting area, farming income, household income, organization or cooperative membership, risk attitude, social network, and social influence. Subgroup analyses further showed that some associations with UB varied across geographic regions, crop systems, and DT types. The findings show that the relevance of adoption determinants differs across WTA, BI, and UB and varies across horticultural contexts. This study provides a more differentiated understanding of DT adoption in horticulture and offers evidence for developing more targeted policy, technical, and institutional support.