Understanding acceptance of information system development and management methodologies by actual users: A review and assessment of existing literature

•Distinguishing what has been done from what needs to be done.•Synthesising and gaining a new perspective.•Discovering avenues for future research on methodology adoption at an individual level.•Developing a research agenda for future studies.

Despite the advantages of using IS methodologies, they are often rejected by actual users. Consequently, researchers have repeatedly attempted to understand why individuals accept certain methodologies while rejecting others. In order to differentiate what has been done from what needs to be done in research, a systematic review of academic studies that examine the acceptance of IS methodologies by actual users was conducted. This review revealed 19 articles. We found that the studies were either: (a) descriptive, (b) focused on specific determinants, or (c) applied a holistic approach, examining methodology acceptance from a number of dimensions. Furthermore, while cognitive aspects have received considerable attention, none of the publications studied the effect of habits, emotions and the personal characteristics of individuals. We also examined the studies with respect to the reported research practices, and thereby identified areas of improvement. Based upon our findings, we developed a research agenda to guide future studies on this crucial subject.