Advancing Marketing Science Through Vroom's Expectancy Theory: A Review and Research Agenda

This study provides a comprehensive, theory-based systematic review to address research gaps and expand the applicability of Vroom's Expectancy Theory in contemporary marketing contexts. Despite its broad applicability, existing studies reveal significant gaps in theoretical development, contextual adaptation, and methodological rigor. Prior reviews lack a dedicated synthesis of Expectancy Theory's role in marketing and structured future research directions. Following the scientific procedures and rationales for systematic literature reviews (SPAR-4-SLR) protocol, this review systematically analyzes 40 peer-reviewed articles (1981–2024), identifying fragmented theoretical applications, inconsistencies in explanatory power, and an overreliance on cross-sectional designs. To address these gaps, a structured research agenda is proposed, comprising seven key recommendations: (1) theoretical integration, (2) theoretical extension (introducing feasibility as a fourth motivational dimension), (3) contextual expansion, (4) cross-cultural applications, (5) construct refinement, (6) methodological innovation, and (7) predictive modeling. By explicitly outlining these directions, this review provides a comprehensive framework for advancing Expectancy Theory's theoretical foundations and empirical robustness in contemporary marketing research.