Navigating the future of brand experience: insights from bibliometric analysis

Purpose This study aims to consolidate the fragmented knowledge on brand experience within marketing literature, evaluating its historical development, current state and prospective future. It seeks to offer a comprehensive understanding of the construct’s academic and practical contributions over the years, identify key topics and propose a research agenda for the field. Design/methodology/approach Adopting a bibliometric analysis, the authors conduct a detailed examination of the literature on brand experience. Performance analysis and science mapping techniques are used to evaluate 774 articles related to brand experience published from 1981 to 2023 and indexed in the Scopus database. Findings The bibliometric analysis reveals a significant expansion in the body of knowledge surrounding brand experience, highlighting its evolution over the past four decades. Key thematic areas and the intellectual structure of brand experience research are identified, evidencing both the growth and the diversification of the field. The study synthesizes these insights into a coherent research agenda, pinpointing emerging areas ripe for future investigation. Originality/value By systematically synthesizing longitudinal contributions to brand experience and using a bibliometric approach for analysis, this study provides a novel perspective on the topic. It not only maps the historical trajectory and current landscape of brand experience research but also sets the direction for future scholarly endeavors, marking a unique contribution to both academic research and practical application in marketing.