Tracing knowledge evolution flows in scholarly restaurant research: a main path analysis

Abstract

Restaurant research has received significant attention globally. This article aims to examine the evolution and the knowledge structure of restaurant research over the past decades. We also investigate the restaurant research hotspots and knowledge diffusion paths based on 1489 articles extracted from the Web of Science database. Furthermore, we conduct a keyword co-occurrence network analysis and four different types of main path analyses to scrutinize the historical formation of the restaurant research. Results revealed that restaurant research mainly focused on five research themes: consumer behavior, consumer satisfaction, social media, green restaurants, and authenticity. While consumer behavior has been the mainstream topic, the focus of this line of research has recently shifted from traditional to luxury and ethnic restaurants. Furthermore, our analysis has detected several recent changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. By examining the knowledge structure of restaurant research, we reveal its knowledge diffusion paths and provide avenues for future research in this vast and interdisciplinary research field.

Tracing knowledge diffusion flows in Islamic finance research: a main path analysis

“…While the local main path correlates with the most frequently co-cited articles in a designated cluster, the global one resonates with the preeminent citations spanning the whole network. By probing these main paths, scholars can distill insights into the pivotal ideas dominating a particular research domain (Rejeb et al, 2022a). In this Source: Authors' own creation/work exploration, we deploy a citation network method to construct the main path and assign value to the citation chain (Liu and Lu, 2012).…”

A Method to Identify Main Paths of Knowledge Diffusion for Collaborative Innovation Projects

“…[12]. For example, scholars are employed MPA in citation networks for revealing knowledge interaction [12], key research issues [13] and knowledge evolution [14,15] in certain research fields. However, knowledge networks in projects are significantly different from citation networks, and it is difficult to apply MPA methods in the context of projects due to the dynamic characteristic.…”