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Abstract

Purpose: As the role of sustainability communication continues to develop, academics are pointing out its significant applications and benefits, especially in the energy sector. This study aims to explore the extent to which research on sustainability communication in the energy sector aligns with key constructs of the Theory of Planned Behavior, providing insight into how communication efforts are framed to influence energy-saving behavior.
Methodology: A total of 492 publications were chosen and examined using the Web of Science database. RStudio was used to perform descriptive analysis to determine which institutions, authors, nations, and journals were the most productive. By using VOSviewer's keyword co-occurrence analysis, the most influential topics were found.
Findings: The findings showed that China has made the most contributions to sustainability communication research in the energy sector, which has recently gained popularity. Three main thematic clusters surfaced: (i) the impact of sustainability communication on consumption; (ii) the role of green communication in resource management; and (iii) the role of AI in energy consumption.
Originality: The literature was analyzed from the Web of Science database for a bibliometric analysis. This paper provides insights into the importance of sustainability communication research trends in the energy sector. This study has a limitation in terms of just considering one database, i.e., WoS. It highlights opportunities for further research and offers research mapping to pinpoint recent advancements in the sustainability communication literature within the energy sector for generating energy-saving behavior.