From the Word-of-mouth to Social Impact: A Bibliometric Analysis of Social Media Marketing

Abstract

Marketing creates demand, and customer engagement is increasingly shaped by the digital technologies and platforms such as social media that recommend or share the experiences of products and services. Especially within the context of the recent advancements of big data, artificial intelligence, and influencer phenomena that facilitate the demand and supply of products and services online, no updated comprehensive review exists on the role of social media marketing in shaping customer engagement and social impact. To identify the size, scope, exemplar work, and emerging topics of related work by conducting a bibliometric review, the study collected 740 articles in August 2021 from the Web of Science database. The detailed bibliometric findings reveal several gaps across disciplines. They also highlight the gaps in knowledge production in terms of journals, organizations, and themes. The study has identified several research gaps and opportunities to advance the understanding, design, and interventions of the critical decision points in the circular economy for positive environmental, social and governance impact.