Examining the Evolution of Customer Loyalty in Brand Research

This study provides a detailed bibliometric analysis of research trends in customer loyalty within brand management. The main goal is to explore current trends, identify key authors and institutions, and examine emerging themes like digital marketing, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and emotional engagement. The analysis uses data from the Scopus database, covering publications from 1994 to 2024. The results show a sharp increase in publications from the mid-2010s, indicating growing academic interest in the topic, especially with the rise of digital transformation and increased focus on sustainability among consumers. The study highlights influential authors like Bilighan and Tanford, and leading institutions, with the majority of research coming from the United States, India, and the United Kingdom. Keyword and co-citation analyses reveal a shift towards integrating CSR and social media marketing into loyalty models, while traditional factors such as brand equity and service quality remain important. These findings highlight the changing nature of brand loyalty in the digital era and the interconnectedness of different research topics. The study suggests that future research should focus on the impact of digital transformation, sustainability, and emotional engagement on customer loyalty, and also explore cultural and regional differences in brand loyalty.