B2B marketing strategies in healthcare management: intellectual structure and research trends

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to map out the ways in which the intellectual structure and research trends of scientific publications come together in business-to-business (B2B) marketing strategies in the health-care sector. More specifically, it aims first to identify the fundamental contributions of research in this area of knowledge and second to determine the lines of research that constitute the most prominent intellectual contribution to the development of a solid future research agenda. Design/methodology/approach The statistical and analytical methods include bibliometric, co-citation and cluster analysis techniques. To identify useful patterns of information within the paper, this study sought paid special attention to scholarship that was jointly cited. This study then applied hierarchical cluster analysis to the totality of the co-cited paper and then grouped the interrelated paper into distinct sets. Findings This study were able to systematically identify and classify various theoretical perspectives of B2B marketing strategies within the health-care sector into four main approaches, namely, decision-making strategies; relational marketing; co-creation; new challenges. Originality/value By systematically identifying, exploring and analyzing the key priorities of B2B marking within the health-care sector, this study contributes positively to the existing literature. The added value is that the work will help to further improve the international standards of excellence within the health-care sector and its marking apparatuses.