A systematic literature review of the stereotype content model in the fields of psychology and marketing: main themes examined in the literature and an agenda for future research in marketing
The stereotypes content model indicates that two traits (i.e., warmth and competence) govern individuals’ impression formation. The great variety of research that has used this theory since the early 2000s leads to a need for a structured overview of prior findings. The goal of this study is to provide a concise map of research streams and present a research agenda. We conducted a systematic literature review of 955 articles. A bibliographic coupling analysis showed four clusters, i.e., (1) the general theoretical foundations of the SCM, (2) the societal impact of key stereotypes (with emphasis on gender), (3) research in clinical psychology and child development, and (4) marketing. Taking a closer look at research in marketing (using co-occurrence analysis), six research streams were identified, including research on branding, country-of-origin, front-line service providers, prosocial consumer behavior, perception of endorsers, and, more recently, on artificial intelligence (AI). The review presents key findings and research gaps across these topics. Finally, we reviewed the few articles that, although not falling into these streams, opened important research veins. This process provided the essential information to present a promising and complete research agenda, to continue building knowledge with impactful implications in different contexts.