Virtual reality in digital marketing: research agenda based on bibliometric reflection

Abstract

Purpose

This study unravels the intellectual structure of virtual reality (VR) in digital marketing (DM) research, identifies core research gaps and presents future research avenues. The study also conducts a performance analysis of publications in the field and identifies the most important stakeholders of the stated topic.

Design/methodology/approach

The Web of Science database was used to retrieve the publications that were relevant to the topic between 2012 and 2022. Biblioshiny, a shiny app for the Bibliometrix R package, is used to conduct a bibliometric analysis by decoding the results into several visual representations.

Findings

This report includes the most prolific contributors, keyword analysis results, productive nations, authors and connections, as well as the most often cited publications on VR in DM. In DM research, numerous perspectives on VR were looked at, explored and revealed.

Practical implications

The findings provide a new perspective and understanding of the issue for researchers in order to improve their research insights in the field. This study will also benefit marketing practitioners in ensuring the sustainability and innovativeness of technology used to run their DM campaigns.

Originality/value

This research provides the first bibliometric analysis of the citation works and productivity in the field of VR in DM using Biblioshiny, identifies core research gaps and provides future research agenda which can be useful to advance the research understanding in this context.

Citation

Zaki, H.O., Fernandez, D., Dastane, O., Aman, A. and Sanusi, S. (2023), "Virtual reality in digital marketing: research agenda based on bibliometric reflection", Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 41 No. 4, pp. 505-524. https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-12-2022-0568