Purpose

The purpose of this study is to diagnose the trajectory of influential conceptual articles in developing a research stream. The authors uncover the knowledge diffusion through influential conceptual articles and identify characteristics that make conceptual articles influential in their field.

Design/methodology/approach

This study draws on scientometrics, specifically an integrated approach combining quantitative citation counts with qualitative citation practices analysis that offers a comprehensive understanding of the nature and context of citations. The authors use the case of customer engagement – a prominent contemporary marketing and service research stream – to explore the trajectory of influential articles in shaping a new research stream.

Findings

This research shows that influential articles contribute to the reciprocal knowledge diffusion within and outside their home discipline. They provide anchor points for conceptual framing, conceptual refining and conceptual reconciliation – three application patterns of citations that are pivotal to navigate theory discovery and theory justification in a research field.

Research limitations/implications

The study analyzes the early impact period of two influential customer engagement articles to understand the developments leading to the establishment of a new research stream. Future research drawing on automated citation and bibliometric methods may consider extended time periods.

Originality/value

This study traces the trajectory of influential articles in marketing and service research. The authors identify characteristics of influential conceptual articles, and recommend practices to develop a conceptual paper with the potential for an influential trajectory. It shows that while marketing and service research has a tradition of “borrowing” theories from other fields, seminal articles “lend” theories to other fields.

中文翻译：

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服务研究中具有影响力的概念性文章的轨迹

目的

本研究的目的是诊断有影响力的概念文章在发展研究流中的轨迹。作者通过有影响力的概念文章揭示了知识传播，并确定了使概念文章在其领域具有影响力的特征。

设计/方法/方法

本研究借鉴了科学计量学，特别是一种将定量引用计数与定性引用实践分析相结合的综合方法，可全面了解引用的性质和背景。作者使用客户参与的案例——当代著名的营销和服务研究流——来探索有影响力的文章在塑造新研究流方面的轨迹。

发现

这项研究表明，有影响力的文章有助于其本学科内外的相互知识传播。它们为概念框架、概念提炼和概念协调提供了锚点——引用的三种应用模式对于在研究领域中导航理论发现和理论论证至关重要。

研究限制/影响

该研究分析了两篇有影响力的客户参与文章的早期影响期，以了解导致建立新研究流的发展。未来利用自动引文和文献计量方法的研究可能会考虑延长时间段。

原创性/价值

本研究追溯了营销和服务研究中具有影响力的文章的轨迹。作者确定了有影响力的概念性文章的特征，并推荐了开发具有影响力轨迹潜力的概念性论文的实践。它表明，虽然营销和服务研究具有从其他领域“借用”理论的传统，但开创性的文章将理论“借给”其他领域。