A review of comparative advertising research 1975-2018: Thematic and citation analyses

Given the importance of comparative advertising (CA) in advertising praxis, scholars have long studied the CA approach from different perspectives. There are several review and meta-analysis academic papers on CA published. Review articles result in academic information gaps and differ from the approach proposed here. Therefore, there is a need for a comprehensive study of CA research themes in the past, present, and future. This paper responds to the need to analyze additional aspects of CA research. Using several bibliometric analyses, a comprehensive thematic review of comparative advertising research is discussed (1975-2018). Forty themes emerge from the 305 marketing and advertising journal articles reviewed, producing four thematic clusters. Clusters range from traditional media effectiveness to political and negative advertising. The results suggest important directions for future advertising research.