An application of co-word analysis and bibliometric maps for detecting the most highlighting themes in the consumer behaviour research from a longitudinal perspective

• Published in: Quality & quantity Vol. 46; no. 4; pp. 1077 - 1095
• Main Authors: Muñoz-Leiva, Francisco, Viedma-del-Jesús, María Isabel, Sánchez-Fernández, Juan, López-Herrera, Antonio Gabriel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.06.2012; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Bibliometrics; Citations; Citations (References); Communications technology; Community; Consumer behavior; Consumer behaviour; Consumers; Content analysis; Discipline; Economic behaviour. Consumption; Economic sociology; Information and communication technologies; Information technology; Longitudinal studies; Marketing; Methodology of the Social Sciences; Qualitative analysis; Quantitative analysis; Science; Social Science Research; Social Sciences; Sociology; Sociology of economy and development; Trends; Visualization; Bibliometric study; Consumer behaviour research; Co-Word analysis; Conceptual evolution; Information and communications technology; Emerging trends; Consumer; Economic behavior; Longitudinal Study
• ISSN: 0033-5177; 1573-7845
• DOI: 10.1007/s11135-011-9565-3

This article presents an application of a bibliometric and visual study of the research carried out on a social science subfield, concretely the consumer behaviour research (CBR), from a longitudinal perspective (period 1966–2008). The study combines performance analysis and science mapping for detecting and visualizing conceptual subdomains. Quantitative and qualitative measures are used in order to identify the most prominent themes. Quantitative data are used to put together very related concepts (themes or clusters of topics), while qualitative indicators (as those based on citations) are used to measure the quality and/or impact of the detected themes. The study also uses bibliometric maps to show in a visual way the associations between the main concepts treated by the CBR community. The maps provide insight into the structure of the CBR, visualize the division of the field into several subfields, and indicate the relationships between these subfields. Co-word analysis is the bibliometric technique used to identify the main themes. All this allows us to quantify and visualize the thematic evolution of the CBR. It also helps to both experts and novices to understand the current state of the art of the CBR and to predict where future research could lead.