A bibliometric analysis of the elaboration likelihood model (ELM)

Purpose The purpose of this study is to unpack the knowledge structure of the elaboration likelihood model (ELM), examine its applications in various domains and propose future research directions using bibliometric analysis. Design/methodology/approach The study involves the bibliometric analysis of 279 articles retrieved from Scopus using VOSviewer and Biblioshiny. The authors used trend topic analysis, bibliographic coupling, cluster analysis and content analysis as the analytical methods. Findings The study revealed the most influential authors, journals, articles and countries in the domain. The keyword analyses showed that initially, the model was used in the field of “persuasion” and “persuasive communication”; however, in the past five years, it has been widely adopted in different areas such as “crowdsourcing,” “decision support systems” and “information systems.” Bibliographic coupling combined with content analysis resulted in seven clusters: ELM in marketing communications, ELM in information system research, ELM in the service context, ELM in advertising research, ELM and electronic word-of-mouth, ELM and trust in the online context and ELM in other contexts. Originality/value The study provides a bibliometric analysis of the ELM, offers useful future research directions to the scholars of different domains and highlights implications for managers.