User Acceptance of Leisure and Hobby Subscription Services – A Systematic Literature Review

Digital subscription services have become an ubiquitous presence in various sectors, including entertainment, news, music, gaming, and software. Despite their growing significance and impact, particularly within leisure and hobby areas, the problem of user acceptance of these services has not yet received a comprehensive explanation. To address this research gap, a systematic literature review has been carried out. The literature items were extracted from the largest academic databases, i.e., Scopus and Web of Science. Then, using Bibliometrix and AI-driven ASReview software, 35 items concerning leisure and hobby subscription services were selected for a full-text analysis. Research reveals a noticeable concentration of academic discourse in the last five years, coinciding with the onset and aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The analyzed papers investigated user acceptance of Internet subscriptions, with particular emphasis on leisure and hobby realm, exploring, e.g., willingness to pay for subscription services and IT infrastructure influence.