Key themes in consumer financial services research from 2000 to 2020: a bibliometric and science mapping analysis

Abstract

PurposeThe paper aims to identify the major research themes in consumer financial services between 2000 and 2020, their relative magnitude and interrelationship, to identify which themes have been most influential and to map the evolution of the field and identify emerging and under-researched themes that are promising for future research.Design/methodology/approachThe core methodology is bibliometric analysis based on keyword co-occurrences. A total of 1,227 articles extracted from the Social Science Citation Index, Emerging Sources Citation Index and Scopus are used in the analysis. Key outputs of the SciMAT software are the research themes, and graphical outputs are called science mapping (evolution of the themes over time), strategic diagrams (visual representation of themes in a 2 × 2 grid) and cluster networks (themes and connected themes based on keyword co-occurrences).FindingsThe findings show that customer satisfaction, innovation, corporate social responsibility (CSR), Internet and consumer acceptance were the main so-called motor themes in the study period. Furthermore, five areas for further research are identified and discussed: Issues related to technology; marketing and consumer behavior; markets and industry; product and service development; and branding.Research limitations/implicationsBibliometric research allows the researcher to process large volumes of articles covering a broad scope, leading to rich and insightful results. However, for greater detail and nuance, the authors recommend supplementing the results of this study with a more focused and thorough qualitative literature review for each theme of interest.Originality/valueBibliometric analysis is under-used in management research. The authors are not aware of similar recent work in consumer financial services. The main value of this paper lies in knowledge dissemination to a wider audience (including practitioners and researchers in adjacent areas) and providing a rigorous platform for identifying future research opportunities.