6. Conclusions and future research avenues
The paper has offered a systematic review of business related IoT studies. We first presented the main definitions of IoT and identified a number of distinctive characteristics. Then, by identifying journal articles from three databases and by following a rigorous review process, we discussed and critically synthesised the findings under two themes, namely, the user and organisational perspectives. The next three sections discuss the theoretical and practical implications as well as the main limitations of our work.
6.1. Theoretical contribution
The main theoretical contribution of this paper is in the form of future research avenues which have been generated by the analysis of the previous literature. On the individual level, future research could explore how IoT will shape consumers' consumption habits and to what extent users will engage with such products and services. Current research emphasises the users' acceptance, adoption, and use behaviour towards IoT services and applications, which will provide implications for companies in formulating their business strategies to attract better adoption (e.g (Bao et al., 2014).), thus accelerating IoT implementation. More empirical studies on general IoT services and specific tasks are required. Due to the technology-centric nature of IoT offerings, most current studies on users' perceptions are based on technology acceptance theories. In addition, buying, using and continuance intentions are also closely associated with product development and life cycle management in terms of object functions and value proposition. Overall, potential emphases for future research are the development of research frameworks of use behaviour specific to the IoT context, and new IoT product characteristics and development processes.
