An Analysis of the Impact of Experiential Marketing in the Tourism Industry: A Bibliometric Literature Review

Abstract

Introducing and implementing experiential marketing in tourism has the potential to enhance the overall tourist experience, increase its economic benefits, and foster its growth. Experiential marketing is a marketing strategy that engages the consumer and creates real-life experience that will be remembered. This type of marketing focuses on getting consumers to experience the brand. Several empirical studies have investigated the relationship between experiential marketing and tourism practices, as well as their impact on the tourism industry. Bibliometric studies that organize production in this field, however, are still scarce. The goal of the study is to identify the most recent research on experiential marketing practices in tourism industry related to marketing by examining the articles available on the SCOPUS platform and determining the state of the art, trends, and other indicators. We obtained a sample of 110 materials from the SCOPUS database, covering the period from 2004 to May 11, 2024, in the subject area. The researcher processed the data and used the VO Sviewer software to graphically illustrate the results. The study looked at how many publications appeared at the same time each year, keyword trends, co-citations, bibliographic coupling, and analysis of co-authorship, countries, and institutions. It shows that the body of literature on experiential marketing and tourism issues in the tourism industry is growing very quickly. The study results show that the USA, Spain, China, Turkey, Taiwan, Italy, and Australia are the most productive countries in the field of research output on experiential marketing and the tourism industry. The top six journals account for 1078 citations, as do several prolific authors. The investigation also reveals that the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management is the top source title on the topic, and the most frequently used keyword is experiential marketing. The largest subject area is "Business, Management, and Accounting," with 89 associated articles, accounting for 43.8% of the total. On this topic, the USA is the leading country. This research study provides insight about the state of the art and research opportunities in the experiential marketing and tourism industries to academicians, researchers, and policymakers who are searching for answers to the topic.