Evolution of Electronic Word of Mouth: A Systematic Literature Review Using Bibliometric Analysis of 20 Years (2000–2020)

Abstract

The internet has transformed the consumer approach to evaluate products and services. Consumers follow various internet-based platforms to evaluate products and services. Electronic word of mouth (eWOM) is available in the form of various platforms like social media, online review websites, blogs and discussion forums in the form of textual or visual information. Hence, it is vital to have a comprehensive understanding of the eWOM domain. This article aims to systematically consolidate, synthesize and extend the knowledge on eWOM using bibliometric analysis from a multi-industry and multiple platforms perspective. A total of 746 papers have been obtained between 2000 and 2020 from the top 25 journals from the Web of Science database, including a count of 1,234 authors and 35,351 total citations in the study. This article underlines the trend of publications in eWOM research and identifies the most influential work, most productive authors, countries and journals in the eWOM domain. The clusters from co-citation and co-word analysis networks have defined the intellectual structure of eWOM literature. Finally, the keyword co-occurrence has expressed the research themes in the eWOM area through thematic evolution. The article also discusses the linkage of eWOM to information and communication technologies like the Internet of Things and blockchain technologies. Lastly, the article identifies the gaps in the literature and suggests future research directions.