A study on knowledge structure and cognitive mapping of marketing using social network analysis

Abstract

This research has been undertaken to identify the knowledge structure of the marketing field from 1991 to 2010. For this, 282 keywords extracted from 11,548 papers in international journals related to the marketing field were analyzed with co-word analysis and social network analysis.

To investigate the knowledge structure, the following steps were carried out. The first step was to identify the frequency of keywords over a 20-year period (1991–2010). Keywords that consistently represented the marketing field were identified as trust, pricing, consumer behavior, advertising, retailing, market orientation, and customer satisfaction. Keywords from 2000 onward were categorized to represent established research areas. New research topics such as internet, e-commerce, relationship marketing, customer relationship management, b2b, sales management, and corporate social responsibility emerged.

The second step investigated sub-research areas in marketing using co-word matrix. As a result, eight cohesive subgroups were identified through community analysis. Each of the groups consisted of keywords related to the group name – Group 1: service performance and recovery, Group 2: brand management, Group 3: marketing modeling and choice model, Group 4: new product diffusion and forecasting, Group 5: distribution channels and pricing, Group 6: customer relationship management and internet marketing, Group 7: channel management, and Group 8: strategic orientation.

The third step provided a cognitive map to reflect research development trends in each subgroup research area. Following that map, Groups 3, 4, and 5 were connected to other research areas. Group 6 and 7 were unconstructed areas for which further research is required.

In the last step, social network analysis was performed to identify the core keywords using centrality analysis. Keywords with a high degree of centrality – i.e., highly correlated betweenness centrality – over the entire 20-year period were marketing strategy, consumer behavior, and trust.

Through identifying the trends in the marketing field and confirmed sub-study areas, and revealing core keywords, the results of this study provide valuable insights into understanding the knowledge structure of the marketing field. In addition, this study suggests further research directions for marketing researchers.

本文旨在研究1991年至2010年间的市场营销专业知识结构。本文从市场营销专业相关国际期刊共11548篇论文中提炼出282个关键词，并通过共词分析及社交网络分析进行研究。

本文知识结构的研究分以下步骤进行。首先进行20年来（1991-2010）关键词出现频率的研究。市场营销专业中常用关键词为：信任，定价，消费者行为，广告，零售，市场导向和顾客满意度。对自2000年以来的关键词进行分类以便于明确研究领域。新研究课题，如网络，电子商务，关系营销，客户关系管理，B2B， 销售管理，企业社会责任等层出不穷。

第二阶段运用共词矩阵研究市场营销分属研究领域。通过社区分析划分出相互关联的8个组。每组中的关键词与组名相关——1组：服务绩效及复原，2组：品牌管理，3组：市场营销模型及选择模型，4组：新产品普及与预期，5组：分销渠道及定价，6组：客户关系管理和网络营销，7组：渠道管理与8组：战略定位。

第三阶段通过认知绘图探究每组研究领域的发展趋势。其中3组，4组与5组与其他研究领域相关联。6组与7组尚有待研究。

最后，运用中心性分析进行社交网络分析进而确定核心关键词。20年间的中心性高程度关键词，即中介中心性关联性强的关键词为市场营销战略，消费者行为及信任。

本文通过分析市场营销专业动态，划分分属研究领域以及关键词的总结，其结论对市场营销专业知识结构的理解有宝贵且深入的研究价值。同时，本文为市场营销学者们提出未来研究方向的建议。

Keywords::

• Marketing research
• marketing research topics
• knowledge structure
• co-word analysis
• actor-network theory
• social network analysis
• cohesive subgroup
• centrality

Keywords::

• 市场营销研究，市场营销研究课题，专业知识结构，共词分析，行动者网络理论，社交网络分析，相互关联分组，中心性

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government (NRF-2011-35C-B00132)