A scientometric analysis of publications in the Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing 1993-2014

Purpose: To conduct a scientometric analysis of the contents of the Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing from 1993 to 2014. Methodology/approach: The authors use the Leximancer computer-aided text analysis program, which reliably and reproducibly identifies the main concepts embedded in the text"”their frequency and patterns of co-occurrence"”based on the ways words move together in the text. They also identify key concepts that differentiate among the networks of concepts occurring in each of the first four five-year periods of the Journal's history. Findings: There are four common underlying conceptual themes: relationships, market, study, and business. But the focal mix of concepts has changed over time, from a narrower initial focus on distribution and power and conflict, to a greater focus on firm business marketing strategy and pedagogy, to a focus on networks, the Internet and more collaborative relations, to a focus, in the most recent period, on psycho-social network concepts, such as trust and commitment. Research implications: The results complement and provide a baseline for evaluating and comparing researcher-conducted literature reviews of business marketing and JBBM's contributions. The methodology provides possibilities for further analysis as it can be extended to analyze the business marketing and wider marketing literature more generally and how it has evolved. Practical implications: Leximancer provides a comprehensive, accessible summary of the content of the JBBM and demonstrates its value as a text analysis program. Originality/value/contribution: The authors are among the first to use this novel computer text analysis program to conduct a scientometric analyses of journal content. It provides a template for conducting studies of other journals and text.