Brand management in crises

Purpose: Brand management is an essential issue for academic researchers and managers. The aim of this study was to determine the state of development of the topic of brand management in crisis situations with particular reference to the thematic areas, based on a bibliometric analysis. Design/methodology/approach: A bibliometric analysis was used with five stages: design, compilation, analysis, visualization, and interpretation. A total of 624 and 572 publications were obtained through an advanced search in the Scopus and Web of Science databases, respectively. Publication- and citation-related indicators and science mapping in the context of keyword co-occurrence were applied. Findings: The first publication on brand management in crises and indexed in the Scopus or Web of Science database was published in 1985. 17 and 16 clusters of keyword co-occurrence were identified for publications indexed in the Scopus and Web of Science databases, respectively. Cluster analysis conducted for three time periods identified 4 clusters in 1985- 2008, 11 clusters in 2009-2019, and 12 clusters in 2020-2024 for keywords in publications indexed in the Scopus database. For publications indexed in the Web of Science database, 3, 13, and 15 clusters were obtained, respectively. Research limitations/implications: Bibliometric analysis was performed for different brands, but the division between luxury and economy brands and between corporate and product brands was not analyzed. Second, scientific mappings were presented for all items in the period under study. Cases of individual brands and types of crisis situations were not considered either. Practical implications: The practical implications relate to crisis management, image shaping, and technological transformation. Companies should create data-driven strategies for creating proactive communication strategies, segmenting, and personalizing customers. In addition, companies should integrate social responsibility into their core strategy and establish moral standards in response to rising social standards and laws. Originality/value: This bibliometric analysis fills a research gap because there aren't many studies on brand management in crises in the literature. The study indicates thematic clusters throughout the period studied, as well as in the three periods separated by the financial crisis and the pandemic outbreak. Keywords: brand management, crises, bibliometric analysis. Category of the paper: literature review.