Product innovation research over the past 60 years: a bibliometric analysis of intellectual structure and emergent trends

Purpose: Literature on product innovation (PI) has witnessed tremendous growth over the past 60 years. Yet, there has been a dearth of a comprehensive review of the extant PI research maintaining the breadth and depth of the topic. To seal this gap, this paper aims to explore the intellectual foundations and emergent trends in 2,588 research papers on PI from 1962 to 2022. 

Design/methodology/approach: The paper adopts a bibliometric analysis approach via visualization maps of prolific contributions, co-citation, co-occurrence and thematic networks. 

Findings: Emerging streams, frontiers and hotspots in PI research are revealed and a knowledge graph is developed. The review provides a broad spectrum of opportunities that enrich imminent research to better inform business decisions. 

Practical implications: The review addresses 20 research questions associated with barely examined areas in PI research that require further analysis in imminent research. 

Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first review that comprehensively synthesizes the intersected knowledge base of PI research using bibliometric analysis of a vast number of documents within a long time span.