Vol. 13 No. 4 (2025): Business & Management Studies: An International Journal
Articles

Consumer confusion in the academic literature: A bibliometric analysis for the period 1966–2024

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  • Özge Seskir Güvendik
Özge Seskir Güvendik
Doctorant, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Türkiye
Bio

Published 2025-12-25

Keywords

  • Tüketici Kafa Karışıklığı, Pazarlama, Bibliyometrik Analiz
  • Consumer Confusion, Marketing, Bibliometric Analysis

How to Cite

Consumer confusion in the academic literature: A bibliometric analysis for the period 1966–2024. (2025). Business & Management Studies: An International Journal, 13(4), 2193-2212. https://doi.org/10.15295/bmij.v13i4.2679

Copyright (c) 2025 Özge Seskir Güvendik

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Consumer confusion in the academic literature: A bibliometric analysis for the period 1966–2024. (2025). Business & Management Studies: An International Journal, 13(4), 2193-2212. https://doi.org/10.15295/bmij.v13i4.2679

Abstract

The globalised market structure and increasing information overload have created significant consumer confusion in today's context. When faced with a multitude of options and information, consumers may experience confusion during the decision-making process. This situation can be triggered by factors such as brand and product similarities, excessive choice, and ambiguous or contradictory information. The emotional and behavioural consequences of confusion can influence consumer decisions, presenting both challenges and opportunities for brands. This study aims to examine the development of the concept of consumer confusion in the literature, explore its relationship with various factors, and identify gaps in the existing body of research. Using bibliometric methods, the study examines the scope of academic work on consumer confusion by analysing authorship, publications, and citation counts. This study is based on publications indexed in the Web of Science and Scopus databases, and the analysis was conducted on 323 publications using a bibliometric and cluster-based systematic review approach. The literature review identifies key studies that explain the different dimensions of consumer confusion and its impact on consumer behaviour. Furthermore, by discussing research trends and future research opportunities in this field, the study provides a deeper analysis of the influence of confusion on purchasing decisions.

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