The dark side of digital transformation (DT) has emerged as a significant stream in Information Systems (IS) research (Turel et al., 2017). Contrary to Fukuyama (1992) assertion that the proliferation and interconnectivity of digital technologies are an uncomplicated improvement in the lives of their users, the notion of the dark side of DT acknowledges that IS can inflict serious detrimental effects on their users. The symptoms of the dark side of DT are extensive and can include aspects such as IT-related addiction, technostress, cyberbullying, IT misuse, deception, and a disrupted work-life balance (Tarafdar et al., 2012). Extant research within the field investigates how such negative symptoms are caused by DT. However, we agree with the argument made by Mikalef et al. (2022), which highlights how this categorization of dark phenomena omits—to our knowledge—the exploration of other emerging, dark phenomena, and, we believe, thus failing to capture how all sources of IS can inflict detrimental impacts.

A philosophical approach that enables the exploration of evolving, dark phenomena exists in Critical Realism (CR) (Spagnoletti et al., 2022). Just as the dark side is positioned as an alternative to the conventional school of thought in relation to DT, CR offers an alternative to positivist or interpretivist approaches (Dobson, 2001). CR argues that positivism in particular may suffer from empirical reductionism (Mingers and Standing, 2017). CR accepts that there is much we do not know; like the parable of the blind men trying to describe an elephant, what we experience and observe—the basis of scientific knowledge—is neither the whole story nor necessarily completely accurate. There are actualities beyond our experience, and they are shaped by deep forces which CR tries to describe. CR specifically seeks to investigate the role of underlying, generative mechanisms. These deep-lying, generative mechanisms—whether social, physical or conceptual (Sayer, 2000)—are independent and enduring entities which act in certain ways, giving rise to empirical phenomena (Mingers et al., 2013). Additionally, CR seeks to form alternative conclusions to those generated by positivism or interpretivism which may suffer from what Bhaskar (2008) termed, “epistemic fallacy” (p. 16), which takes place when new knowledge is influenced by our own pre-conceptions. Foucauldians in IS might view “generative mechanisms” as models of relations applicable in different contexts, such as panopticism (see Marsden, 1999). Other social scientists might see Collingwood's absolute pre-suppositions in Bhaskar's epistemic fallacies (Collingwood, 1940). CR as a corpus builds upon a range of such views and offers unique contemporary insights for critical understanding of IS phenomena.

CR-led inquiry has the ability within the field of IS to explore the importance of generative mechanisms in the transformation of socio-technical structures (Dwivedi et al., 2015; Mingers and Standing, 2017). These generative mechanisms may be characterized by factors which influence user behavior (Zamani and Pouloudi, 2020), the affordances of an IS (Kempton, 2022) defined as “the potential for behaviors associated with achieving an immediate concrete outcome and arising from the relation between an artifact and a goal-oriented actor or actors” (Volkoff and Strong, 2017, p. 235), or a combination of both. Williams and Wynn (2018) argue that CR can enhance the creativity of IS-related theorizing, whilst Wynn and Williams (2012) have previously constructed a set of CR methodological principles for IS research. CR approaches, however, are rarely applied to the investigation of dark phenomena. We contend that CR methodological principles can be adapted to the exploration of dark phenomena which arise from DT, and their relationship to socio-economic structures. Our research question then is: How can a Critical Realist approach contribute a deeper understanding of the dark phenomena to arise from digital transformation? We answer this research question by introducing CR methodological principles and demonstrating their use within an illustrative example, namely the digital transformation of the land-based betting industry in Great Britain. Our illustrative example demonstrates how a richer, deeper understanding of dark phenomena could encourage alternative systems design which seeks to avoid detrimental socio-economic impact.

The paper is organized as follows. Firstly, we present an introductory review of the dark side of IS, and introduce how we believe such a categorization may omit dark phenomena which evolve, are unknown, or are perceived differently over time. Next, we introduce CR philosophical principles which can contribute a deeper understanding of phenomena, owing to their emphasis on the role of deep-lying, generative mechanisms. Thirdly, we highlight the scarce nature of extant research which has sought to explore dark phenomena from a CR-based approach. To encourage more CR-based research into dark phenomena, we outline a series of methodological steps which can uncover deep-lying, generative mechanisms. We finally demonstrate how these steps can be used in an illustrative example, focused upon the DT of the land-based betting industry. This illustrative example not only provides an insight into the application of CR methodology into DT, but also provides a deeper understanding of the detrimental, socio-economic impact of DT.

The concept of the dark side of DT was born from the viewpoint that digital advancements can have detrimental side effects (Raufflet and Mills, 2017). Turel et al. (2017) provide a categorization of dark phenomena. Dark phenomena are wide-ranging and could be characterized by a distorted work-life balance (Benlian, 2020), technostress (Salo et al., 2019), addiction (Park et al., 2016), or by misuse such as cyberbullying (Chan et al., 2019) or deception (Carlson et al., 2004). Previous research has explored how dark phenomena may arise from a wide range of IS or IT-related artifacts such as social networking sites (Salo et al., 2019; Cheikh-Ammar, 2020), online auction sites (Turel et al., 2011) and in online gaming (Gong et al., 2021; Lee et al., 2021).

However, the pre-identification of dark phenomena may be open to the accusation of being subject to a methodological individualism that misses more systemic phenomena (Venkatesh, 2008; Dafoe et al., 2021), or to the use of fore-projections which influence the outcomes of research (Hassan, 2014). Previous studies have generally adopted a positivist or interpretivist approach, exploring specific dark phenomena as hypothesized by researchers. The study of dark phenomena according to such methodologies however may omit other dark occurrences which emerge within the field. Mikalef et al. (2022) argue that, in fact, the categorization of dark phenomena is very difficult, that such phenomena evolve over time, and can even have positive outcomes. The exploration of dark phenomena which evolve in this way therefore requires an alternative methodology which—rather than testing specific hypotheses—can explore how phenomena are changeable and are affected by other structures. Given this, we argue that current understandings of the dark side can be expanded using a Critical Realist approach which emphasizes the importance of forces operating within open systems which generate evolving phenomena.

We aim here to briefly summarize the key philosophical tenets of CR, a philosophy which Wynn and Williams (2012) and Mingers and Standing (2017) have previously introduced more fully to the field of IS, in order to situate our argument. CR is positioned by Bhaskar (2008) as an alternative to positivist knowledge which he argues suffers from “epistemic fallacy” (p. 16), or the conflation of epistemology and ontology where questions about Being are answered with our knowledge of Being (Mingers et al., 2013). CR seeks to establish an alternative to positivism which it argues fails to achieve a deep understanding of causality due to its “easily accessible and ‘objective' methods” (Yeung, 1997, p. 55). These methods are used to make generalizations—however rigorous (Mingers, 2015)—across wider settings (Eisenhardt, 1989). CR also positions itself as an alternative to interpretivism. Interpretivist research is guided by principles such as contextualization, abstraction and generalization which lead to knowledge of a “complex whole from preconceptions about the meanings of its parts and their interrelationships” (Klein and Myers, 1999, p. 71). The use of preconceptions also introduces bias into our understanding of phenomena. Alternatively, CR underlines the inherent fallibility of knowledge—or the nature of knowledge as being restricted to what can be empirically known through preconceptions.

CR also provides an alternative viewpoint to the empirical reductionism of positivism and the reliance upon preconceptions of interpretivism through the investigation of deep-lying, generative mechanisms which give rise to empirical phenomena. To achieve this, Bhaskar (2008) provides a transcendental realist analysis of society which divides mechanisms, events and phenomena into three strata or “hierarchies” (Mingers, 2011, p. 306). The “empirical” stratum—much like the tip of an iceberg which is only viewable above sea level—consists of phenomena which are directly observed or experienced. Below this, the “actual” stratum is characterized by events which are known to occur, but are not directly observed or experienced (Bhaskar, 2008; Mingers, 2011). Finally, the “real” is the underpinning stratum which CR philosophy seeks to explore, consisting of entities which form the broader structures of society, and the generative mechanisms which define what occurs within societies (Sayer, 2000). Generative mechanisms are entities—whether physical, social or conceptual (Sayer, 2000)—which behave in certain ways to generate empirical phenomena (Mingers et al., 2013). Generative mechanisms could therefore take a wide variety of forms within the process of DT, whether characterized by the physical presence of an IS or artifact, the interaction of a user which enacts the perceived affordances of novel IS (see Hutchby, 2001; Volkoff and Strong, 2013), or external socio-economic factors (Spagnoletti et al., 2022).

Furthermore, disparate generative mechanisms can merge to form a diachronic, emergent mechanism, the properties of which are distinct from those of its original component parts (Elder-Vass, 2005). CR-based research thus investigates how generative mechanisms emerge and evolve. For example, Sayer (1992) describes a generative mechanism formed by the merger of the social roles of landlord and tenant. Exploring the social construct of “tenancy” through the individual breakdown of each actor (the landlord, or the tenant) cannot provide the insights that CR-based research can evince through examining how interaction between landlord and tenant forms a new, broader, social mechanism (see Danermark et al., 2002), known to some as the “rentier” society (Sadowski, 2020). The emergence of such “mechanisms” occurs within open systems where “each component can itself be treated as a system and ‘opened up' to reveal another set of components and relations. This process can go on for an indefinite number of levels until we reach the bedrock of indissoluble forces” (Mingers, 2011, pp. 306–307). Mechanisms are interconnected between structures and are thus subject to constant transformation. This carries significant implications for any phenomenon under study: if the underlying mechanisms are subject to constant transformation, then so are the generated phenomena.

Although positivist and interpretivist approaches to the dark side have previously given valuable findings, the adoption of CR philosophy would present an alternative approach toward a deeper understanding. Such an approach would present findings as explainable (due to the enactment of specific, generative mechanisms) rather than predictable (due to objective causes). This approach would allow IS scholars to consider the specific internal and external factors—driven by generative mechanisms—which would otherwise be missed through positivist and interpretivist research. Volkoff and Strong (2013), for example, demonstrate the organizational process changes which emerge from the interaction of specific mechanisms formed by separate user behaviors and the affordances of IT artifacts. The awareness of deep-lying generative mechanisms related to user behavior and IT functionality, they contend, can help researchers to establish problems within information systems and thus develop alternative systems design.

On a sociological level, CR philosophy highlights the dialectical relationship between structure and agency. Structure and agency are well known concepts in IS (Giddens, 1984; Archer, 1995; Orlikowski, 1996). In CR, structure and agency are reflected in the way CR differentiates between what it terms transitive and intransitive science. Transitive science is created by human agency, whilst intransitive science is characterized by the realm of structures, and the mechanisms described above. This realm, for CR, exists independently from human reality (Mingers, 2011). Bhaskar (2008) uses the atomic composition of oxygen as an example of this divide, outlining how oxygen remains constant separately from our evolving understanding of the world. Indeed, the intransitive realm must exist separately from human agency so that we may develop our understanding of it (Brown et al., 2002). Our understanding of the social world, on the other hand, is a product of—yet also separate from—nature (Hu, 2018). This is incorporated within Bhaskar's (2020) four planes of social being, a social cube comprising structure, practice and subject process, within which he contends that all social phenomena occur. The four planes consist of (i) the material relations of actors with nature; (ii) interpersonal, subjective relationships between actors; (iii) the role of broader social structures, and (iv) the stratified personality of the actors themselves. Bhaskar (2020) contends that these planes are interdependent, highlighting that whilst social structures pre-exist—and are separate from—agency, they are also reproduced and transformed by actors. In summary, CR philosophy—not unlike Archer (1995) - acknowledges how the world would exist whether we did or not, and that the structure—whilst distinct from agency—limits or enables the actions of agency which in turn, reshapes the structure (Danermark, 2017). This constant reproduction of the structure and its relationship with agency aligns with the CR emphasis on open systems, and the evolving tendencies of generative mechanisms.

Dark phenomena are subject to constant transformation (Mikalef et al., 2022). CR thought has the potential to shed light upon the dark side of DT beyond current scholarship, through its critique of the formulation of fallible knowledge, in addition to its investigation of factors which could act as generative mechanisms as opposed to simply exploring an unintended consequence of artifact design or implementation. Thus, we argue the growing awareness of detrimental impacts in the field of IS (Myers, 2021), though still generally researched from a positivist or interpretivist approach, could gain greater and broader insight into its subject matter through CR. However, CR-based inquiry is yet to be widely applied to the emergence of dark phenomena.

Following our introductory section on the nature of CR, we now explore the potential for its application toward the explanation of dark phenomena. Table 1 demonstrates how a CR-led exploration can contribute to knowledge through a summary of its approach, as well as its potential contribution to dark side research. Whereas positivism and interpretivism rely on the testing of hypotheses or a qualitative cycle informed by fore-projections, CR relies on methodologies designed to uncover the generative mechanisms which generate dark phenomena. Generative mechanisms which form dark phenomena may also reflect perceived affordances of an IS or artifact, which differ from the IS or artifact itself (see Hutchby, 2001, 2003). A CR approach, in summary, would be better suited to investigate the dark phenomena which—as Mikalef et al. (2022) also argue—may evolve, be unknown or even be perceived as positive occurrences. Importantly, CR-led research can demonstrate how dark phenomena can arise within the context of wider, external factors. These factors include socio-economic structures which are not included within the original list of dark phenomena outlined in section 2.

To demonstrate the potential for research into dark phenomena from a CR perspective, we carried out a brief literature search to explore extant research. Acknowledging, with Boell and Cecez-Kecmanovic (2015), that systematic literature reviews are not unproblematic, for the purposes of this paper we adopted the principles of a systematic search. We searched for previous CR-led studies into the exploration of dark phenomena with search terms: ‘(“Critical Realism”) AND (“Addiction” OR “cyberloafing” OR “cyberbullying” OR “deception” OR “disrupted work-life balance” OR “interruptions” OR “misuse” OR “technostress” OR “impulsive use of IT” OR “health”)', into the AIS Library, EBSCO, Proquest, Scopus and Web of Science databases. Our search also focused upon the Basket of Eleven journals (see Association for Information Systems, 2023). Searches were conducted in January 2023 and May 2023, and papers were included here if published from 2013 onwards—thus giving a window of research during the past 10 years—and if they specifically adopted a CR approach to dark phenomena. The search provided only five papers, all of which nonetheless make valuable, CR-led contributions to the dark side school of thought (Henningsson and Kettinger, 2016; Gebre-Mariam and Bygstad, 2019; Øvrelid and Bygstad, 2019; Spagnoletti et al., 2022; Haag et al., 2023).

Firstly, Haag et al. (2023) highlight the importance of deviant affordances, or the unintended affordances of technology which may allow employees to deviate from their organization's IT policies. Identified from the qualitative data given by alumni and students of an IS course in Germany, the generative mechanisms which drive the enactment of deviant affordances are uncovered as conceptual in nature, supporting employee and organizational goals alike. These generative mechanisms relate to tension, deadlock and actualization. The tension mechanism, the authors contend, emerges from the tension between organizational goals and user intention. The deadline mechanism emerges from the perception of actors of organizations' efforts to solve their tensions. Finally, the actualization mechanism emerges from the decision of the user to engage in deviant IT use to support their own—and at least one organizational—goal. Actors' and organizations' goals evolve, whilst their alignment—although it may lead to deviant IT use—may also be perceived as positive with dark phenomena occurring from deviant behavior performed albeit for the right reasons. In summary, dark phenomena may emerge from mechanisms which are perceived as positive are indeed evolve over time (see Table 1 above and Mikalef et al., 2022). However, whilst these deviant, generative mechanisms were explored according to a CR approach, they were conceptualized within closed conditions. This causes a tension according to CR philosophy which emphasizes the importance of open systems (Mingers, 2011), and also excludes the possibility of wider, socio-economic factors influencing generative mechanisms.

Henningsson and Kettinger (2016) meanwhile adopt a CR approach to explore the generative mechanisms responsible for integration deficiencies in post-merger IS. Through a CR-based exploration of 37 published case studies from across the world, the authors highlight how causal configurations which give rise to deficiencies within merged systems are created from four outlined methods of systems merger: absorption, coexistence, best-of-breed, and renewal. Generative mechanisms emerge from the interaction between these merger strategies with other external and internal factors such as power relations, socio-cultural differences, merger unreadiness, the extent of the integration itself, as well as time pressures. The outcome of the interaction between generative mechanisms, merger strategies and context can consist of a wide variety of deficiency-related outcomes for post-merger IS. These outcomes can again be wide-ranging, although grouped as lasting business inefficiencies, integration-related overspending, process delays, detrimental staff reaction, temporary business disruptions, and unrealized potential. Henningsson and Kettinger (2016) also make recommendations on how to mitigate for the effects of context in analyzing how best to avoid deficiencies by recommending alternative systems design. This, they contend, would be achieved through an understanding of the impact of IS integration strategies, and the management of contextual factors. Phenomena are only explainable within CR philosophy; however the authors provide enough context on the wider socio-cultural structures to enable other researchers on how similar mechanisms may act in other settings. On the other hand, the authors also provide a wide category of outcomes which may not occur within other settings. Dark phenomena—as outlined in Table 1—may be unknown or be perceived positively.

Thirdly, Spagnoletti et al. (2022) explore the generative mechanisms responsible for the emergence of online black-markets (OBMs). The authors identify within their qualitative dataset gathered from European stakeholders the key events, actors and entities which merge to generate the phenomena of OBMs. Their CR analysis uncovers an overarching OBM infrastructure, emerging from the interactions between administrators, sellers and buyers, which is subject to constant evolution. This evolution occurs as a result of the specific, conceptual generative mechanisms responsible for dark, OBM-related phenomena: commoditization, platformization, and resilience. These generative mechanisms are retroductively analyzed as giving rise to dark phenomena, whilst also constantly transforming as a result of evolving markets and innovation. Spagnoletti's et al. (2022) analysis therefore highlights the importance of generative mechanisms, but also their role within open systems. Whilst highlighting the CR assertion the explainable nature of phenomena over the notion of generalization, the authors highlight how a deeper understanding of OBMs toward the training of law enforcement agencies and cyber-intelligence units.

Gebre-Mariam and Bygstad (2019) adopt a CR approach to identify the generative mechanisms which influence the trajectory of digitally transformed healthcare systems within developing countries. In doing so, the authors draw on Archer's (1995) morphogenetic approach, highlighting a cycle which occurs through three different stages. The cycle commences with the prior structural conditioning of reality. Secondly, the relationship of agency to the structure is mediated through socio-cultural interaction. Finally, the socio-cultural mediation of agency results in structural elaboration (Archer, 1995). Gebre-Mariam and Bygstad (2019) identify generative mechanisms which influence the DT of healthcare systems. The four generative mechanisms identified were formed by factors driven by culture, structures and actors alike. The cultural mechanism emerged from tendencies related to project-driven factors, driven by international non-government organizations (NGOs), whilst the structural mechanism was driven by the need to optimize prior, manual data collection methods within healthcare systems. Socio-cultural interaction then occurred through an agency-driven mechanism, with influence of NGOs and state actors as embedded within the structure influencing DT. The final, scaling mechanism represented the socio-cultural mediation of the study, with widescale adoption of DT impacted by the interests of NGOs and state actors as opposed to central health-related stakeholders. Digital transformation—which may have been perceived positively—was hindered by the influence of NGO interests and an over-reliance on external actors due to the asymmetrical relationship between NGOs and local health institutions.

Finally, Øvrelid and Bygstad (2019) adopt a CR approach toward the role of discourse in the transformation of digital infrastructures within the Norwegian health sector. Specifically, the authors combine their CR approach with Foucault (1972) archaeological framework which seeks to explore how discourse enters into different fields or disciplines, as well as ‘analyse the whole network to understand the content and the implications of the discourse' (Øvrelid and Bygstad, 2019, p. 225). The combination of these approaches facilitated a deep investigation of emerging discourses and their ability to alter the system trajectories within three case studies related to the health sector. Importantly, their case study analysis showed that the mechanism of discursive formation, namely ‘[a] system of dispersion that identifies and enters into arenas where struggling programmes reside and that may contain the power to change an infrastructure in crisis' (Øvrelid and Bygstad, 2019, p. 234), can detrimentally impact DT if it does not interact with mechanisms formed by other material structures, technological solutions supported by management and other actors, and the ability to scale. Importantly, Øvrelid and Bygstad (2019) demonstrate that although discursive formations can consist of a positive approach toward DT, the absence of support and infrastructure can result in a relationship between positive discourse and dark phenomena.

These papers demonstrate a CR analysis into their authors' respective dark phenomena, and the analysis also demonstrated by the above authors accords with much of the themes highlighted within Table 1. Indeed, generative mechanisms evolved over time (Spagnoletti et al., 2022), were perceived positively by some actors (Gebre-Mariam and Bygstad, 2019; Øvrelid and Bygstad, 2019), represented the affordances of a system (Haag et al., 2023), or emerged from other pre-existing mechanisms (Henningsson and Kettinger, 2016). These five papers highlight a potential for the adoption of CR guidelines to explore the dark phenomena of DT. We therefore next outline a set of CR methodological steps which can help not only to uncover generative mechanisms, but also to highlight their fluid nature.

In this section, we outline how research into dark phenomena can be achieved through a novel application of Wynn and Williams' (2012) methodological principles for CR in IS. The initial stages of this are broadly similar to the relevant stages of Klein and Myers' (1999) hermeneutic cycle, seeing the key events within the field explicated and then theoretically redescribed according to a “proto-theory” (Collier, 1994, p. 165) whilst mindful of the fallibility of knowledge as highlighted earlier. The third stage, retroduction, however, is the central mode of inference for CR-based research. Retroductive analysis constructs and explores the structure under study, whilst seeking to expose the relationship between underlying, generative mechanisms and empirical phenomena (Belfrage and Hauf, 2017). Wynn and Williams' (2012) methodological principles—we contend—are well suited if followed according to the step chart we present in Figure 1.

To demonstrate how our CR approach could result in an alternative understanding of dark phenomena, we now present as an illustrative example, a study which consisted of a CR-led inquiry into the detrimental socio-economic impact caused by the DT of Great Britain's land-based betting industry. Great Britain's licensed betting offices—colloquially known as betting shops—have seen significant DT since the enactment of the Gambling Act 2005, and they now host digital channels such as the fixed-odds betting terminal (FOBT), the self-service betting terminal (SSBT) and online gambling. These channels offer distinct forms of gambling. FOBTs offer customers the chance to play digital casino- or slot-based games, whilst SSBTs offer a wider range of sports betting compared to traditional, over-the-counter (OTC) betting. Online gambling offers all these forms of gambling, and is accessible within betting shops through the opening of customer accounts. Our illustrative study highlighted these digital forms of gambling as “platform gambling,” or platforms which facilitate the exchange of risk and capital between owners and customers. Furthermore, these different forms of platform gambling joined to create an omnichannel network. The omnichannel approach allowed easier access for customers with a wider range of available markets or products available through a variety of touchpoints (see Hickman et al., 2020).

On the other hand, the proliferation of these channels has recently heightened concerns regarding the impact upon customers who may experience harmful gambling behaviors (Rockloff et al., 2017; Newall et al., 2021; Whelan et al., 2021). Importantly, the development of these platforms has also occurred within a capitalist system which promotes the overconsumption of gambling (Reith, 2013; Young and Markham, 2017). Our study explored these platforms through the proto-theoretical, Marxist viewpoint that “platform gambling” allowed owners to exploit the heterogenous labor of shop workers and customers alike, whether through the alienation of shop-based labor, or through the immaterial labor which heightens spend from customers. In doing so, our study departed from the viewpoint that platform gambling enacts the affordances of data as outlined by Srnicek (2017) to ensure continuous profits. Specifically, platform gambling capitalizes on the ability of data to continuously optimize algorithms, co-ordinate labor, and reduce operating costs through platform optimization. This lens also incorporated the approach of Gimpel and Schmied (2019), highlighting how affordance actualization and subsequent dark phenomena required the interaction between actors and IS or IT-related artifact. We now evaluate how this study contributed a CR-led exploration into an example of detrimental socio-economic impact of DT—in accordance with the points introduced in Table 1—by following the methodology introduced earlier.

Our paper has demonstrated how a CR-led inquiry can lend a deeper understanding of the mechanisms beneath the dark side of IS. As this paper has argued, CR analysis is a creative process, as amply demonstrated by the CR papers already found in IS. Guidance such as that by Brönnimann (2021) and Wiltshire and Ronkainen (2021) will also offer help to researchers pursuing CR-based knowledge. Whilst the methodologies in extant research have guided our understanding of how IS artifacts may provide detrimental impacts, we have demonstrated how a CR-based approach grants a deeper understanding of the dark side itself. Dark phenomena do not merely consist of pre-determined criteria; they can exist within the positive aspects of IS, evolve over time and can be emitted from any IS or IT-related artifact (Mikalef et al., 2022). This is demonstrated through our illustrative example which highlighted the negative socio-economic impact brought by the digitalization of the gambling industry. Future researchers may wish to adopt the process in Figure 1 above or they may wish to use a different path, based on CR philosophical principles.

A deeper understanding of dark phenomena, away from pre-determined symptoms, we contend would facilitate alternative systems design with reduced detrimental impact. This understanding of alternative systems design would benefit policy makers which may seek to protect societies from the unintended consequences of DT. As our illustrative example has shown, CR-led inquiry can uncover dark phenomena which exist beyond pre-determined categories. Dark phenomena may be unknown or perceived differently over time, as well as consist of wider socio-economic impacts. Businesses may also benefit from this understanding, as they seek to ensure that they maintain social responsibility by mitigating for generative mechanisms responsible for dark phenomena. Importantly, a CR approach can allow a deeper understanding and explanation of how generative mechanisms lead to dark phenomena, offering an alternative to generalizations which are influenced by our own assumptions.

Publicly available datasets were analyzed in this study. This data can be found here: https://salford-repository.worktribe.com/OutputFile/1486578.

JW and DK contributed to the conception and design of the study and contributed to manuscript, revisions, and approved the submitted version. JW carried out the literature search within the study and wrote the first drafts of the manuscript. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.