The Applications of Operations Research in Consumer Behaviour

This review examines 911 documents to understand how research on consumer behaviour and analytics has developed and what it tells us about the intention–behaviour gap. Publication activity increased particularly after 2019 and reached its highest level in 2025. The research is spread across journals and draws on fields including marketing, food, retail, business and psychology. Sustainability (Switzerland) is the leading source in the dataset, followed by the British Food Journal, the International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology, Cogent Business & Management, and the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. The thematic map places purchase intention, TPB and purchase behaviour among the field’s central topics. Social media, perceived value, organic food and environmental concern appear as developed themes, while the keyword network also connects research on digital shopping, impulse buying and sustainability. Overall, the literature places greater emphasis on purchase intention than on actual purchase behaviour. Studies that measure both suggest that intention helps explain behaviour, but does not fully account for it (Aungatichart, Fukushige & Aryupong, 2020; Adrita, 2020). The factors involved also vary across studies and contexts. Perceived behavioural control, habit, product availability and willingness to pay may help explain whether intentions translate into purchases, while positive attitudes, social expectations and environmental concern do not always lead to action (Samarakoon Mudiyanselage et al., 2025; Müller-Pérez et al., 2025; Singh, Rawat et al., 2025; Jung, Choi & Oh, 2020). Digital touchpoints can influence this process in different ways. Livestream shopping, scarcity cues and streamer characteristics may encourage impulse purchases (Yu, Tang & Gao, 2025; Kong, Wang & Zhang, 2025), whereas irrelevant or excessive personalisation may create information stress or resistance to algorithms (Du, Chen & Ke, 2025). Meanwhile, studies using reviews, ratings and customer interactions analyse data that are closer to observed consumer activity (Ma et al., 2022; Kasemrat et al., 2025). A key opportunity for future research is to connect these behavioural data more directly with the concepts used in TPB-based studies. These findings have implications for both researchers and practitioners. Researchers could place greater emphasis on actual purchases and study them alongside consumers’ stated intentions, rather than relying on intention alone. Combining survey-based approaches with behavioural analytics may also provide a fuller picture of consumer decision-making. For managers, the findings suggest that practical barriers, such as product availability and perceived control, deserve attention alongside consumer attitudes. Digital shopping features should help consumers make informed decisions rather than rely on pressure or artificial urgency. In sustainability research, the gap between positive environmental attitudes and actual buying remains important, while existing work on big data and sustainable consumption is still fragmented (Chandra & Verma, 2023). The findings should be considered in light of several limitations. The analysis uses Scopus alone, so relevant studies indexed elsewhere may have been missed. The dataset is also limited to English-language publications and is weighted towards more recent years. Bibliometric counts show what is indexed in the database, but do not necessarily indicate which studies have had the greatest influence. An irregularity in the annual publication counts for 2022 also means that year-to-year changes should be interpreted cautiously. In addition, the grouping of factors according to whether they help translate intention into behaviour is a synthesis of the reviewed literature, not the result of a meta-analysis. Future studies could use longitudinal designs and actual purchase data, combine observational evidence with self-reported measures, consider theories beyond TPB, and connect digital traces such as reviews and ratings with behavioural constructs. Experimental research could also help establish how particular digital features influence the movement from intention to purchase.  

1.               Adrita, U. W. (2020). Consumers’ actual purchase behaviour towards green product: A study on Bangladesh. International Journal of Business Innovation and Research. 2.               Alharthi, S. (2026). From browsing to decision: How artificial intelligence systems influence the modern fashion consumer journey. Systems, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.3390/systems14010031 3.               Aungatichart, N., Fukushige, A., & Aryupong, M. (2020). Mediating role of consumer identity between factors influencing purchase intention and actual behavior in organic food consumption in Thailand. Pakistan Journal of Commerce and Social Sciences. 4.               Ávila-García, L., Santos, M. F., & Prieto-Sandoval, V. (2025). Digital technologies as an accelerator for circular economy adoption by consumers: A literature review. Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management, 18(3), 631-666. https://doi.org/10.3926/jiem.8344 5.               Bernovskis, A., Sceulovs, D., & Stibe, A. (2024). Society 5.0: Shaping the future of e-commerce. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 10(4). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joitmc.2024.100391 6.               Chandra, S., & Verma, S. (2023). Big data and sustainable consumption: A review and research agenda. Vision, 27(1), 11-23. https://doi.org/10.1177/09722629211022520 7.               Du, H. S., Chen, T., & Ke, X. (2025). Personalized or Pressurized? International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction. 8.               Emon, M. M. H., & Khan, T. (2024). A systematic literature review on sustainability integration and marketing intelligence in the era of artificial intelligence. Review of Business and Economics Studies, 12(4), 6-28. https://doi.org/10.26794/2308-944X-2024-12-4-6-28 9.               Ge, B. (2025). Social-Psychological mechanisms in green marketing. Environment and Social Psychology. 10.            Gupta, A. K. (2021). Framing a model for green buying behavior of Indian consumers. Journal of Cleaner Production.