A bibliometric analysis of relationship management as a scholarly field from 1997 to 2022

Abstract

This bibliometric study aims to evaluate the state of art of the relationship management literature over the period 1997–2022. Data from 22,926 citations from 219 articles published in six public relations journals enable us to conclude that research on relationship management has grown as it has become a popular topic. The explosive growth is more noticeable after 2010, when the number of articles and citations more than doubled. Peer-reviewed journal articles and books are the two major sources of citations. The topics of interest are: proposing frameworks, testing and validating relationship quality measures, and testing and advancing theories or models.