"Mapping the Intellectual Structure of Social Media Influence on Generation Z Buying Behaviour: A PRISMA-Guided Bibliometric Analysis"
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66635/ew1geq92Keywords:
Social Media, Generation Z, Buying behaviour, Bibliometric Analysis, PRISMAAbstract
The rapid proliferation of social media has fundamentally transformed Generation Z's purchasing dynamics, leading to a surge in empirical research that remains highly fragmented across consumer behavior disciplines. This study aims to systematically synthesize and map the intellectual structure, thematic evolution, and future research directions of this domain using bibliometric techniques. Following the PRISMA framework, a comprehensive dataset of 209 peer-reviewed articles and conference papers published between 2010 and 2026 was retrieved exclusively from the Scopus database. The data was subsequently analyzed utilizing Microsoft Excel for descriptive performance analysis and VOSviewer for spatial science mapping. The findings reveal an exponential growth in scholarly output from 2023 onwards, with global academic discourse overwhelmingly driven by hyper-digitalized emerging markets in Asia. Furthermore, keyword co-occurrence analysis identified four dominant thematic clusters shaping the current literature: the core digital ecosystem and behavioral intentions, relational persuasion via influencer marketing, psychological drivers of impulsive consumption, and emerging frontiers such as artificial intelligence and sustainable consumption. Ultimately, this study consolidates the disjointed knowledge base, theoretically highlighting Generation Z's cognitive dissonance between algorithm-driven impulse buying and value-driven ethical consumption, while proposing a robust agenda for future cross-cultural and AI-focused empirical research.
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