Towards conceptual clarity in digital platform research: a systematic literature review

Abstract

The emergence of digital platforms has attracted considerable attention in economics and information systems, shaping scholarly discourse over the past few years. Digital platforms have been the subject of extensive research by scholars, who have examined them from various perspectives, including technical, economic, and socio-technical perspectives. However, despite the frequent use of the term 'digital platform' in the literature, its definition covers a wide range of meanings. Scholars often use the term to mean distinct concepts, which creates semantic confusion within the scientific community. To clarify the different elements and perspectives that shape the definition of a digital platform, a systematic literature review was conducted. A total of 74 definitions from 58 scholarly resources were collected and analyzed through qualitative content analysis. This analytical process aimed to isolate and identify the fundamental elements used in defining digital platforms, as well as the multiple theoretical perspectives through which the term is conceptualized. Furthermore, this study traces the evolution of the term’s definition alongside the rapid development of digital platforms in recent years.