“Green Consumption Research at the Intersection of Marketing and Personality Traits: A Bibliometric Review and Knowledge Mapping”

Abstract

Studies around green consumption have grown at a pace, although the information base is widely scattered on marketing, sustainability, and psychology, and personality factors are increasingly referred to in explaining the heterogeneity in consumer reactions on green appeals. In order to centralize this rising area of intersection, this paper carries out a bibliometric review and knowledge mapping of journal articles about green consumption/green marketing and personality traits in the Scopus index. With the help of performance analysis and science-mapping, we report a sharp increase in the rate of publications after 2020, which implies the passage into a high-growth period of the field. Patterns of impact indicate that citation influence is limited to a few countries and outlets and average citations in recent years are indicative of a citation-window effect. Science mapping reveals that the intellectual underpinnings of the domain are very deep-rooted with the Theory of Planned Behavior as the most densely co-cited core. In conceptual mapping, a predominant group of marketing, environmental concern, and (purchase) intention/behavior is observed, and a lesser central group of personality-related is it as well, but not completely explanatory factor traits are usually considered as secondary theoretical processes. According to the trend analyses, an increased focus on trust/credibility, digital setting (e.g. social media), and evaluative constructs related to green claims is evident, which once again supports the value of personality-informed segmentation and message development. This review sheds light on how personality traits can take a more central role to ensure the continued resolution of long-standing issues in green marketing, including consumer heterogeneity and the intention-behavior gap, and creates an agenda of future research to develop theory and practice in green marketing.