Past, present, and future of social commerce: a bibliometric analysis

Abstract Given the significance of social commerce, extensive research has been conducted from various perspectives, resulting in numerous reviews and meta-analytical papers. However, these previous studies have highlighted information gaps and variations in approaches. Therefore, there is a need for a comprehensive examination of social commerce research, encompassing past, present, and future themes, as well as an investigation into additional features of social commerce. To address this need, the present study undertakes a comprehensive thematic review of social commerce research for two distinct periods: 2008–2018 and 2019–2022. Bibliometric analyses were conducted using data extracted from the Web of Science database. The research employed science mapping techniques through the utilization of SciMAT and VOSviewer software. The findings of this study identified several themes related to social commerce during the first period, including product, perceived sociability, impulse buying, information technology, motivation, mobile commerce, and others, which were extensively explored. In the second period, themes such as UTAUT, SMEs, perceived risk, live stream, SOR (stimulus-organism-response), and the concept swift guanxi received significant attention. These findings, among others, contribute to the evolving understanding of the social commerce concept. By conducting a comprehensive thematic review and employing bibliometric analyses, this research fills existing knowledge gaps and provides a broader understanding of social commerce research across different periods. The findings shed light on the evolution of social commerce and pave the way for future investigations in this field.