Decoding Customer Digital Engagement and Challenges: A Bibliometric Study

The rapid proliferation of digital technologies has fundamentally reshaped how businesses engage with customers, positioning customer digital engagement (CDE) as a strategic imperative across industries. Despite a surge in scholarly interest, the literature on CDE remains fragmented, with diverse definitions, measurement approaches, and conceptual frameworks. This study addresses these gaps through a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of research on CDE published between 2010 and April 2024, using data extracted from the Scopus database. The analysis is guided by four key research questions: (1) What are the key trends and growth patterns in CDE research? (2) Who are the most influential authors, institutions, and countries in this domain? (3) What are the major thematic areas and publication outlets for CDE? and (4) What challenges and research gaps persist in the literature? Findings reveal a steep rise in publications post-2015, with India, the United States, and the United Kingdom emerging as leading contributors. Dominant subject areas include business management, computer science, and social sciences, underscoring the interdisciplinary nature of the field. Influential sources and authors were identified, and a variety of document types, from journal articles to conference papers, reflect the evolving discourse on CDE. This study highlights ongoing challenges such as the lack of standardized engagement metrics, integration of emerging technologies, and contextual research. The results offer theoretical contributions by mapping the intellectual structure of the field and practical insights for marketers seeking to optimize digital engagement strategies. Recommendations for future research are also proposed.