A bibliometric analysis of global online marketing research trends

Abstract

The revolution of the internet technology has increased the demand for online marketing strategies. Over the years, online marketing has received considerable attention owing to its advantages to both individuals and organizations. This study sought to analyze the global online marketing research trends from 1975 to 2019 through a bibliometric analysis procedure. A total of 789 published articles were retrieved from the Scopus database for the analysis. The results suggest that between 2001- 2010, Google AdWords, affiliate marketing, e-mail marketing, search engine advertising (SEA), search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, and convergent mobile technologies is the most preferred online marketing platform in the hospitality, tourism, hotel, multi-national corporations (MNCs), construction, and software industry. Between 2011-2019, online marketing study focused more on social media marketing platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, blogs, and dual-channel (i.e., YouTube). Also, the online marketing trend switched its focus from multi-national corporations (MNCs), construction, and software industry in 2001-2010 to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), business-to-business marketing, and agribusiness in 2011- 2019. The findings of this study provide useful information to academic researchers and industry practitioners to aid their understanding of online marketing research development and online marketing roles in strategizing marketing plans. This paper innovates by identifying new areas for investigation and potential research opportunities in the field of online marketing. It is one of the pioneer studies which provides a greater understanding of online marketing research by investigating its evolution through bibliometric analysis.