Social media and consumer engagement: A bibliometric analysis and future research directions

  • 12 Views
  • 2 Downloads

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
As digital platforms reshape consumer–brand interactions, social media has become a critical driver of multidimensional consumer engagement. This bibliometric analysis synthesizes 245 peer-reviewed articles published between 2011 and 2024 to map the intellectual and thematic evolution of research on social media and consumer engagement. Through co-citation, co-authorship, and keyword co-occurrence analyses using VOSviewer, the study identifies six major thematic clusters, including consumer engagement and brand interaction in social media, brand loyalty and consumer behavior, social media marketing & tourism, digital marketing and engagement trends, demographic and content analysis in online advertising, and consumer behavior and social media marketing. Quantitatively, the results show a continuous annual increase in publications and highlight major contributions from the United States, the United Kingdom, and China. Notably, there has been a marked shift from surface-level interaction metrics toward more holistic engagement concepts that emphasize trust, emotional connection, and community co-creation. These insights offer theoretical advancements by expanding engagement frameworks and highlighting practical implications for marketers aiming to design authentic, resonant brand experiences. The study concludes with a set of actionable research directions to guide future exploration and support practitioners in navigating the rapidly evolving digital landscape.

view full abstract hide full abstract
    • Figure 1. Growth trajectory of publications on social media and consumer engagement (2011–2024)
    • Figure 2a. Co-occurrence by countries
    • Figure 2b. Overlay visualization in co-occurrence by countries
    • Figure 3. Author and index keywords comparison
    • Figure 4. All keywords visualization (43 threshold)
    • Figure 5. Author co-citations, 146 thresholds (18,949 authors)
    • Table 1. Search strategy and protocol used in the bibliometric analysis
    • Table 2. Top 10 most cited papers
    • Table 3. Number of publications by researchers’ institutional affiliation by country
    • Table 4. Top 20 journals in citation and distribution
    • Table 5. Top 15 most cited authors
    • Table 6. Evolution of key themes across three periods
    • Table 7. Sub-theme direction
    • Conceptualization
      Niramon Rawangngam, Pimlapas Pongsakornrungsilp, Chukiat Siriwong, Kanokkan Ketkaew, Sasawalai Tonsakunthaweeteam, Vikas Kumar
    • Data curation
      Niramon Rawangngam, Pimlapas Pongsakornrungsilp, Chukiat Siriwong, Vikas Kumar
    • Formal Analysis
      Niramon Rawangngam, Pimlapas Pongsakornrungsilp, Chukiat Siriwong, Kanokkan Ketkaew, Sasawalai Tonsakunthaweeteam
    • Methodology
      Niramon Rawangngam, Pimlapas Pongsakornrungsilp, Chukiat Siriwong, Kanokkan Ketkaew, Sasawalai Tonsakunthaweeteam, Vikas Kumar
    • Project administration
      Niramon Rawangngam
    • Resources
      Niramon Rawangngam, Chukiat Siriwong
    • Software
      Niramon Rawangngam, Chukiat Siriwong
    • Visualization
      Niramon Rawangngam, Chukiat Siriwong
    • Writing – original draft
      Niramon Rawangngam, Pimlapas Pongsakornrungsilp, Chukiat Siriwong, Kanokkan Ketkaew, Sasawalai Tonsakunthaweeteam, Vikas Kumar
    • Funding acquisition
      Pimlapas Pongsakornrungsilp
    • Investigation
      Pimlapas Pongsakornrungsilp, Vikas Kumar
    • Supervision
      Pimlapas Pongsakornrungsilp, Vikas Kumar
    • Validation
      Pimlapas Pongsakornrungsilp, Vikas Kumar
    • Writing – review & editing
      Pimlapas Pongsakornrungsilp