Connecting the dots: A bibliometric analysis on the consumer innovation-decision process

Despite half a century’s extensive scholarly research in the decision-making process of individuals around the adoption of new innovations, innovation practitioners are still not able to capitalise sufficiently on the existing knowledge base to successfully commercialise new products. Evidence of this stems from consumers’ continued rejection of new offerings at alarming rates. This makes the marketing of innovation, with a focus on influencing consumers’ decision-making process, one of the most challenging corporate challenges for new product managers. To address this gap, this paper sequentially applies a systematic literature review (SLR), followed by extensive descriptive and bibliometric analyses, to reveal and assess the current state of knowledge in this field. Furthermore, the analysis identifies six prominent future research paths that could fill identified gaps in knowledge. Using the results of the bibliometric section, practitioners can pinpoint specific research areas of interest, enabling them to access and utilise findings from past studies more effectively.