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This study aims to identify key research clusters (or sub-fields) in the field of performance measurement research, analyse its historical development and propose future research avenues.

Several bibliometric analysis methods, including co-citation analysis and text mining techniques, were used to review papers published on performance measurement research.

This study reveals eight main clusters of research in this field, ranging from theoretical-focused clusters (e.g. strategic performance measurement) to practical-focused clusters (e.g. design of performance measurement). These clusters are further categorised into four groups based on the size and degree of connectedness. Regarding the analysis of historical development, the established clusters, such as supply chain management, remain important, while newer clusters, such as hospitality and humanitarianism, have recently gained increasing interest.

This study applies citation-based clustering, a type of bibliometric literature review method that has been underused in the field of performance measurement. Moreover, the results obtained from this study are also distinct from those of previous studies, offering valuable insights especially for researchers. With a comprehensive understanding of the field, researchers can use it to understand the key literature, observe ongoing developments within their specialisation and inform their future research directions.

The purpose of this paper is to conceptualise customer-oriented product returns service (COPRS) performance, and develop and validate its measure.

This study uses qualitative consumer interviews and a quantitative survey to conceptualise, operationalise and validate the measure of COPRS performance.

The findings indicate 12 components with 46 measurable items for COPRS performance, including assurance, compensation, convenience, empathy, employee empowerment, explanation, feedback, information availability, reliability, responsiveness, tangibles and timeliness.

The measure could facilitate future empirical studies in the product returns service area. Future research could apply the COPRS performance measure across industries or in different settings such as cross-cultural or other retailing contexts.

Managers could evaluate their existing returns service performance in different key aspects based on the COPRS performance metrics and then improve their returns offerings accordingly. It also alerts practitioners to pay more attention to functional integration in designing returns service strategies to enhance customer satisfaction.

The study is one of the first to develop a new measure that substantiates the notion of an integrated marketing and reverse logistics interface, which is an underrepresented body of knowledge in the marketing and operations management disciplines.