Social Media Influencers and Consumer Culture : A Bibliometric Analysis of Digital Consumption Research in Emerging Economies
Keywords:
Social Media Influencers, Consumer Culture, Bibliometric Analysis, Digital Consumption, Emerging Economies, VOSviewerAbstract
This study examines the global research landscape of social media influencers and consumer culture through a bibliometric analysis of publications indexed in the Scopus database. Using VOSviewer as the primary analytical tool, the study constructs and interprets keyword co-occurrence networks to identify dominant research themes, thematic clusters, temporal evolution patterns, and research density distributions in this rapidly growing field. The analysis reveals that the literature is anchored around consumer culture, marketing, and influencers, with Instagram and authenticity functioning as key mediating constructs linking influencer practice to consumption behavior. The findings show that the field has expanded from early studies of celebrity and brand culture toward themes of sustainability, zero waste lifestyles, generation Z, and digitally mediated consumer identity, with emerging-economy contexts such as China, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Ecuador, and Indonesia increasingly represented. Overlay visualization indicates that sustainability, zero waste, and digital marketing are the most recently active themes, while density analysis confirms consumer culture and influencers as the most intensively studied constructs. These findings provide a comprehensive map of the field and identify promising directions for future research on digital consumption in emerging economies.
References
Abu-bakar, H. (2024). Integrating Sustainability and Circular Economy into Consumer-Brand Dynamics : A Saudi Arabia Perspective. 1–27.
Arriagada, A., & Bishop, S. (2021). Between Commerciality and Authenticity: The Imaginary of Social Media Influencers in the Attention Economy.
Aysel, P., & Ersöz, G. (2024). New Views of Celebration and Gifting Practices in Consumer Society: Baby Shower. 142(Yaz), 15–26. https://doi.org/10.58242/millifolklor.984216
Boechat, A. C., & Paço, A. (2026). Shaping Sustainable Communication on Instagram : How Digital Influencers in Portugal Engage Consumers in Eco-Conscious Narratives. https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251408946
Caputo, F., Carrubbo, L., & Sarno, D. (2018). The Influence of Cognitive Dimensions on the Consumer-SME Relationship : A Sustainability-Oriented View. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10093238
Cashmore, E. (2023). Celebrity Culture. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003259992
Chan, K., Children, K., & Routledge, D. E. T. (2013). Children and consumer culture Kara Chan Chan, K. (2013) Children and consumer culture, in Lemish, D. (Ed.). 141–147.
Chi, T., Duquaine, M., Mollel, J., & Doria, J. (2026). Sustainability signaling through PR gifting to social media influencers: A brand perspective. Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, 54(4), e70055. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/fcsr.70055
Cordova Duran, E. G. (2023). Pacari Brand Engagement and its Emotional Connection in Ethical Consumption. 21(1).
Drenten, J., Dinn, A., & Barnhart, M. (2023). Curating a consumption ideology : Platformization and gun in fl uencers on Instagram. 0(0), 1–32. https://doi.org/10.1177/14705931231207329
Guido, Gianluigi, Pichierri, Marco, Peluso, Alessandro M, & Litti, Gabriele. (2026). Socialites in consumer culture: A Socio-marketing perspective. Journal of Consumer Culture, 14695405261458998. https://doi.org/10.1177/14695405261458998
Hains, R., & Jennings, N. (2021). The Marketing of Children’s Toys Critical Perspectives on Children’s Consumer Culture: Critical Perspectives on Children’s Consumer Culture. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62881-9
Hund, E., & McGuigan, L. (2019). A Shoppable Life: Performance, Selfhood, and Influence in the Social Media Storefront. Communication, Culture and Critique, 12, 18–35. https://doi.org/10.1093/ccc/tcz004
Jorge, A., Marôpo, L., & Nunes, T. (2018). ‘ I am not being sponsored to say this ’: a teen youtuber and her audience negotiate branded content. 2018, 76–96.
Lu, D., & Lu, D. (2023). Performing zero waste : lifestyle movement , consumer culture , and promotion strategies of social media influencers strategies of social media influencers ABSTRACT. Environmental Sociology, 00(00), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/23251042.2023.2267829
Miyake, E. (2024). Virtual Influencers Identity and Digitality in the Age of Multiple Realities.
Mora, J. L. (2024). Yogalebrities : The postfeminist , fashionable construction of ‘ psychic life ’ on social media. (Xx), 1–22.
Neville, S. J. (2020). The domestication of privacy-invasive technology on YouTube: Unboxing the Amazon Echo with the online warm expert. Convergence. (2017).
Polivanov, B., & Carrera, F. (2022). Perfect Bodies and Digital Influencers. Cultural Politics, 18, 28–43. https://doi.org/10.1215/17432197-9516911
Ramjaun, T. (2021). Exploring the #zerowaste Lifestyle Trend on Instagram (pp. 205–220). https://doi.org/10.1108/S2043-905920210000015012
Salim, H., Ananda, P., Veronica, V., & Halim, E. (2025). The Effect of Social Media Influencers on Customer Repurchase Intention. https://doi.org/10.1109/CENIM67940.2025.11325810
Wieczorkiewicz, A., & Siedlecka, S. (2026). Performance and Human – Animal Entanglements Performance and Human – Animal Entanglements. 2–3.
Xu, J. H. (2022). Constructing the Consumer in the Digital Culture: American Brands and China’s Generation Z.
Yang, S., & Waverley, J. (2026). Influencing differently: how Chinese male beauty influencers develop influencer marketing beyond Silicon Valley. Journal of Business Research, 214, 116273. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2026.116273
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Loso Judijanto, Grace Tahapary, Nasaruddin Nasaruddin, Andi Wahyuni Syam, Agus Yulistiyono

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