Consumer well-being in marketing: a hybrid review and future research opportunities

Abstract

Given the growing influence of marketing and marketplace interactions on consumers' quality of life, satisfaction and happiness, this study synthesizes the intellectual structure of consumer well-being (CWB) research to advance scholarship through an integrative review. The study adopts a hybrid review approach that combines bibliometric performance analysis, Theories–Context–Methodology and Antecedents–Decisions–Outcomes (TCM-ADO) framework-based review and BERTopic modeling. A total of 495 peer-reviewed articles published between 1996 and September 2025 were analyzed to map the evolution, theoretical foundation and core structure of CWB research. The study reveals that CWB research is primarily grounded in theories from psychology and sociology, with a dominant emphasis on service contexts. Using the ADO framework, the findings highlight the prevalence of micro-level emotional and motivational drivers associated with subjective well-being, while meso- and macro-level influences remain comparatively underexplored. BERTopic modeling further identifies key thematic clusters, including transformative service research, sociocultural values and materialistic consumption in shaping CWB. Building on these insights, the study maps the intellectual structure of the field, identifies critical research gaps and proposes directions for future research. The review offers a comprehensive understanding of CWB research with marketing discipline-specific depth, identifies research gaps and outlines future research opportunities. The hybrid review synthesizes literature and presents the core structure of CWB research by integrating TCM-ADO and BERTopic Modeling.