The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive review of the application of cognitive dissonance theories in business and management studies, using a combination of bibliometric approaches and qualitative content analysis to highlight the main elements as well as outlining the knowledge foundation and conceptual structure of the field to guide future research.
The sample of 832 data were obtained from the Web of Science and Scopus databases from 1965 to 2025 and refined based on predefined criteria using the PRISMA protocol. The study employed bibliometric analysis tools, specifically the Bibliometrix package and VOSviewer, to analyze the final dataset. Qualitative content analysis was conducted using Maxqda to identify recent research trends and topics.
The findings revealed the most credible authors, documents, journals, countries and institutes in this field of study. The co-occurrence analysis and quantitative content analysis identified trending topics such as self-affirmation, consumer behavior, motivation, organization-based self-esteem, moral identity, social media, organizational citizenship behavior, corporate social responsibility, cognitive dissonance theory, self-affirmation theory, sustainability, purchase intention and guilt. Qualitative content analysis provides a taxonomy that can assist management scholars in developing research based on cognitive dissonance theories.
This study contributes to the literature by providing a convergent view of cognitive dissonance in management, addressing the distinct and scattered nature of existing theories and models. This review offers a framework for management scholars to develop research initiatives using cognitive dissonance theories and models, particularly in areas identified in the analysis.
