15 years of service-dominant logic: analyzing citation practices of Vargo and Lusch (2004)

Purpose – The purpose of this article was to provide an outline of the citation practices of “Evolving to a new
dominant logic for marketing” by Vargo and Lusch (2004) to identify and discuss the most prominent research
topics in which citations were used and to suggest future research based on the results of the analysis.
Design/methodology/approach – The authors used a comprehensive framework of citation practices based
on iterations of previous literature to analyze the relevant literature, which they identified by accessing,
systematically and rigorously, every available contribution matching a set of criteria. The authors then
categorized these contributions and highlighted the main topics of research interest in each category.
Findings – The findings identify some of the factors in the continuous development of SDL, the way this new
marketing logic permeated the scientific debate, the infusion of Vargo and Lusch (2004) into several contributions
framed in the new logic or justified through it, and a general perception of a default reference. Additionally, the
findings highlight the main topics of research interest in each category.
Research limitations/implications – The analysis enabled the detection of the original paper’s influence
through advances in service studies, pollination into other fields of research and continuous scientific debate.
The authors have highlighted several avenues for research and proposed future research directions.
Originality/value – This research analyzed the effects of the spread of the SDL cornerstone article and
emphasized the advantage of using an in-depth approach to the analysis of studies through a framework
applied to more than 4,600 studies.