Evolution and trends of the metaverse in business and management: A bibliometric analysis

Abstract

The Metaverse is an immersive digital environment that enables users, through avatars, to create worlds, objects, and interact with each other for various purposes. Furthermore, its significance in Business and Management is increasingly evident. The objective of this research is to examine the evolution, trends, and research approaches related to the Metaverse in the field of Business and Management. This study presents a comprehensive contextualization and bibliometric analysis of the existing literature in this area. In the contextualization phase, publications per year, citations received per year, most cited publications, and languages used in publications were examined. These analyses provided an overview of the temporal evolution of research, influential publications, and language diversity in the field of Business and Management. Subsequently, a bibliometric analysis was conducted using Co-citation, Bibliographic coupling, and Co-occurrence of author keywords. These analyses helped identify relationships between scientific works, thematic connections, and collaborations among researchers in the studied field. The use of the Web of Science database ensured the quality and comprehensiveness of the collected data, while the Vosviewer tool facilitated efficient visualization and analysis of the results. The findings of this study provide a detailed understanding of the research landscape in Business and Management, revealing key areas of focus, significant contributions, and existing collaboration networks. These insights can be valuable for researchers, professionals, and regulators in the field of Business and Management.