Mapping the intellectual landscape of consumer purchase intention toward remanufactured products: A bibliometric analysis using Scopus and VOSviewer

Abstract

As circular economy principles gain prominence in sustainability scholarship and policymaking, consumer acceptance of remanufactured products has emerged as a strategically significant research area. Yet the intellectual structure of this field, its key contributors, thematic clusters, and collaborative patterns, remains insufficiently mapped. This study addresses that gap through a systematic bibliometric analysis of 106 Scopus-indexed publications spanning 2010 to 2025, employing VOSviewer to examine publication volume trends, citation dynamics, co-authorship networks, source impact, keyword co-occurrence, bibliographic coupling, and co-citation patterns. The findings reveal a pronounced acceleration in research output after 2020, driven by growing institutional and academic interest in sustainable consumption. The Journal of Cleaner Production and Sustainability (Switzerland) emerge as the most influential outlets in terms of both volume and citation impact. Keyword co-occurrence analysis identifies two dominant research clusters: one oriented toward environmental sustainability, remanufacturing processes, and circular economy governance, and a second centered on consumer behavior, purchase intention, and psychological decision-making factors including perceived quality, risk, trust, price sensitivity, and eco-consciousness. Country-level analysis shows China as the most prolific contributor by publication volume, while Sweden commands the highest citation impact relative to output. Co-authorship mapping reveals pronounced fragmentation, with most researchers operating in small, isolated clusters and organizational-level collaboration approaching zero in terms of cross-institutional link strength. The study synthesizes the field's thematic evolution, highlights persistent gaps in longitudinal research, cross-cultural investigation, and underrepresented product categories, and offers a structured agenda for future inquiry. The findings carry implications for researchers seeking collaboration opportunities, for practitioners communicating remanufacturing value propositions, and for policymakers designing demand-side instruments to support circular economy transitions.