Evolution of sustainable retailing and how it influences consumer behavior: a bibliometric review

Over the years, sustainability has garnered much attention owing to evidence of climate change, United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals, pandemics, and the changing behavior of millennials. Retailers are one of the largest consumers of global natural and human resources. They have joined the sustainability bandwagon by pledging resources and communicating the same to their target customers for better business positioning. This study aims to analyze the conceptual structure of sustainability in the context of retail enterprises and its role in shaping consumer behavior. Therefore, it leverages bibliometric techniques to elaborate on the productivity and impact of the existing body of knowledge in this area through performance analysis and discover the knowledge clusters through science mapping. The data used for this study were sourced by querying the Scopus database for the intersection of terms related to 'sustainability,' 'retail,' and 'consumer behavior.' Subsequently, they were processed and illustrated using RStudio and the bibliometrix package for R to drive insights in bibliometric summaries, including tables, maps, and networks. In addition to highlighting temporal and spatial trends and dominant themes, the study suggests future research avenues in sustainable retailing.