Mapping the influence of influencer marketing: a bibliometric analysis

Purpose: The advent of social media has led to the emergence of influencers and the domain of influencer marketing (IM). Despite being a popular and evolving research domain, it still lacks a comprehensive and systematic bibliometric analysis in the field. This study attempts to fill this critical gap by mapping the influence of IM to understand the intellectual structure and propose a future research agenda for scholars working in the domain. Design/methodology/approach: The authors have used VOSviewer and Biblioshiny packages for conducting a variety of analyses such as citation analysis, bibliographic coupling, keyword analysis and three-field plot analysis. Findings: The main findings include identifying six clusters in the domain, i.e. “mechanism of IM,” “measuring the impact of IM,” “persuasive cues in IM,” “likability factors of influencers,” “authenticity of influencers” and “understanding followers.” Future research guidelines have been proposed in each of the six clusters, followed by research and managerial implications, conclusion and limitations. Originality/value: This study is probably the first attempt at providing a comprehensive bibliometric analysis in the domain using a combination of VOSviewer and Biblioshiny packages.