Selection and use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in construction projects — Past and future research

• We systematically review Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) selection and use factors in construction projects.
• The ADR selection and use factors are categorized into 6 shared dimensions.
• The behaviour of ADR selection and use can be explained by Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB).
• The ADR selection and use factors are reclassified into the TPB framework.

Research on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) selection and use has been gaining prevalent interest from project practitioners and researchers. This study presents a systematic review of the factors influencing ADR selection and use in construction projects for the last 32 years. A total of 446 articles from 21 construction project-related journals were identified and reviewed. Among these, only 13 articles focused on the factors influencing ADR selection and use. These 13 articles were then analysed, synthesized, and summarized in terms of the research methods used, distribution across countries and citation influences. The studies on the selection and use of ADR were mainly based on utility. Utility factors offer less conceptual basis to explain decision making. To address this deficiency, this study reclassified ADR selection and use with reference to Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) based framework. The potential development and research avenues of using the TPB framework were also discussed.