Reframing technology readiness research: A three? Decade systematic review of conceptual shifts, thematic patterns, and scholarly gaps (2000–2025). An Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (ARIST) paper

Abstract

This review synthesizes nearly 25 years of research on the Technology Readiness Index (TRI), drawing on a corpus of 227 peer‐reviewed journal articles published between 2000 and 2025. By combining longitudinal bibliometric analysis with a focused systematic review of TRI‐specific studies, the paper examines how the construct has developed over time, across contexts, and within domains of information science and technology. The findings show that TRI research has expanded substantially in empirical scope, moving from early consumer‐oriented applications to broader use in organizational systems, public services, healthcare, and emerging digital environments. At the same time, this expansion has occurred within stable conceptual and methodological boundaries. Across periods, TRI remains defined as an individual‐level predisposition and is consistently integrated into established technology adoption models. The dominance of cross‐sectional survey designs and the concentration of studies in a limited number of geographic contexts further reinforce this pattern. The analysis demonstrates that TRI research is characterized by empirical expansion without corresponding theoretical transformation. Rather than evolving as an independent explanatory framework, TRI functions as a complementary construct that enhances predictive models while retaining their underlying assumptions. This stabilization explains both its widespread adoption and its constrained explanatory reach. The review contributes by clarifying the role and limits of TRI within the broader technology adoption literature. It identifies the conditions under which TRI is most effective and outlines the need for future research to extend the construct beyond individual predisposition, incorporate multi‐level perspectives, and adopt more diverse methodological approaches. These directions are necessary for advancing technology readiness as a concept capable of addressing the complexities of contemporary digital systems.