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Several disciplines and thousands of studies have used, developed and supported technology adoption theories to guide industry and support innovation. However, within the past decade, a paradigm shift referred to as the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) has resulted in new considerations affecting how models are used to guide emerging technology integration into business strategy. The purpose of this study is to determine which technology adoption model, or models are primarily used when assessing smart technologies in the 4IR construct. It is not to investigate the rigour of existing models or their theoretical underpinnings, as this has been proven.

To achieve this, a systematic literature review based on the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis methodology is used. From 3,007 publications, 125 papers between 2015 and 2021 were deemed relevant for thematic analysis.

From the literature, five perspectives were extracted. As with other information and communication technology studies, the analysis confirms that the technology acceptance model remains the predominantly used model. However, 105 of the 125 models extended their theoretical underpinnings, indicating a lack of maturity. Furthermore, the countries of study and authors’ expertise are predominantly clustered in the European and Asian regions, despite the study noting expansion into 16 different subject areas, far beyond the smaller manufacturing scope of Industry 4.0.

This study contributes theoretically by providing a baseline to develop a generalisable 4IR model grounded on existing acceptance trends identified. Practically, these insights demonstrate the current trends for strategists and policymakers to understand technology adoption within the 4IR to direct efforts that support innovation development, an increasingly crucial factor for survival in the digital age. Future research can investigate the additional constructs that were impactful while considering the level of research they were applied to.

Family businesses feature prominently in economies, including the South African wine industry, using websites to convey their family identity. This research paper aims to explore the family identity elements that family wineries use on their websites, their alignment and how these are communicated online.

Based on Gioia’s methodology, a two-pronged approach was used to analyze 113 wineries’ websites’ text using Atlas. ti from an interpretivist perspective.

South African wineries use corporate identity, corporate personality and corporate expression to illustrate their familiness on their websites. It is portrayed through their family name and heritage, supported by their direction, purpose and aspirations, which emerge from the family identity and personality. These are dynamic and expressed through verbal and visual elements. Wineries described their behaviour, relevant competencies and passion as personality traits. Sustainability was considered an integral part of their brand promise, closely related to their family identity and personality, reflecting their family-oriented philosophy. These findings highlight the integration that exists among these components.

Theoretically, this study proposes a family business brand identity framework emphasising the centrality of familiness to its identity, personality and expression. Using websites to illustrate this familiness is emphasised with the recommendation that family businesses leverage this unique attribute in their identity to communicate their authenticity.

This study contributes to understanding what family wineries communicate on their websites, specifically by examining the elements necessary to create a family business brand based on the interrelationship between family identity, personality and expression with familiness at its core, resulting in a proposed family business brand identity framework.