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Abstract Statistical mediation analysis has become the technique of choice in consumer research to make causal inferences about the influence of a treatment on an outcome via one or more mediators. This tutorial aims to strengthen two weak links that impede statistical mediation analysis from reaching its full potential. The first weak link is the path from mediator to outcome, which is a correlation. Six conditions are described that this correlation needs to meet in order to make plausible causal inferences: directionality, reliability, unconfoundedness, distinctiveness, power, and mediation. Recommendations are made to increase the plausibility of causal inferences based on statistical mediation analysis. Sweetspot analysis is proposed to establish whether an observed mediator-outcome correlation falls within the region of statistically meaningful correlations. The second weak link is the communication of mediation results. Four components of informative communication of mediation analysis are described: effect decomposition, effect size, difference testing, and data sharing. Recommendations are made to improve the communication of mediation analysis. A review of 166 recently published mediation analyses in the Journal of Consumer Research, a reanalysis of two published datasets, and Monte Carlo simulations support the conclusions and recommendations.

There are enduring misconceptions in the marketing and management literature about the potential biasing effects of Common Method Variance (CMV). One belief is that the biasing effect of CMV is of greater theoretical than practical importance; another belief is that if CMV is a potential problem, it can be easily identified with the Harman one-factor test. In this article, we show that both beliefs are ill founded and need correction. To demonstrate our key points with greater generality, we use analytical derivations rather than empirical simulations. First, we examine the effects of CMV on correlations between observed variables as a function of measure unreliability and the sign and size of the “true” trait correlation. We demonstrate that, for negative trait correlations, CMV leads to a substantial upward bias in observed correlations (i.e., observed correlations are less negative than the trait correlation), and under certain conditions observed correlations may even have the wrong sign (assuming that the method loadings are both positive or both negative). We also show that, for positive trait correlations, the downward bias due to measurement unreliability does not always mitigate the upward bias due to CMV (again assuming that the method loadings are either both positive or both negative). Importantly, our results indicate that the inflationary effect of CMV is larger at lower levels of (positive) trait correlations, whereas the deflationary effect of unreliability is larger at higher levels of trait correlations. Second, we demonstrate analytically the serious deficiencies of the popular Harman one-factor test for detecting common method variance and strongly recommend against its use in future research.

We propose a model of eye-tracking data to understand information acquisition patterns on attribute-by-product matrices, which are common in online choice environments such as comparison websites. The objective is to investigate how consumers gather product and attribute information from moment to moment. We propose a hierarchical hidden Markov model that consists of three connected layers: a lower layer that describes the eye movements, a middle layer that identifies information acquisition processes, and an upper layer that captures strategy switching. The proposed model accounts for the data better than several alternative models. The results show that consumers switch frequently between acquisition strategies, and they obtain information on only two or three attributes or products in a particular acquisition strategy before switching. Horizontal and contiguous eye movements play an important role in information acquisition. Furthermore, our results shed new light on the phenomenon of gaze cascades during choice. We discuss the implications for Web design, online retailing, and new directions for research on online choice. This paper was accepted by Pradeep Chintagunta, marketing.

This study shows how advertisers can leverage emotion and attention to engage consumers in watching Internet video advertisements. In a controlled experiment, the authors assessed joy and surprise through automated facial expression detection for a sample of advertisements. They assessed concentration of attention through eye tracking and viewer retention by recording zapping behavior. This allows tests of predictions about the interplay of these emotions and interperson attention differences at each point in time during exposure. Surprise and joy effectively concentrate attention and retain viewers. However, importantly, the level rather than the velocity of surprise affects attention concentration most, whereas the velocity rather than the level of joy affects viewer retention most. The effect of joy is asymmetric, with higher gains for increases than losses for decreases. Using these findings, the authors develop representative emotion trajectories to support ad design and testing.

We propose a theory of regret regulation that distinguishes regret from related emotions, specifies the conditions under which regret is felt, the aspects of the decision that are regretted, and the behavioral implications. The theory incorporates hitherto scattered findings and ideas from psychology, economics, marketing, and related disciplines. By identifying strategies that consumers may employ to regulate anticipated and experienced regret, the theory identifies gaps in our current knowledge and thereby outlines opportunities for future research.

What is the role that color plays in consumers’ perception of the gist of ads during the increasingly brief and blurred exposures in practice? Two studies address this question. The first study manipulates the level of blur of the exposure and the presence or absence of color in the ad image, during exposures that lasted 100 milliseconds (msec). It reveals a buffer effect of color: color contributes little to gist perception when sufficient visual detail is available and ads are typical, but color enables consumers to continue to perceive the gist of ads accurately when the exposure is blurred. The second study finds that color inversion of the entire ad deteriorates gist perception, but that color inversion of the background scene does not affect gist perception when the exposure is blurred. This provides evidence that the color composition of the central object in the ad scene plays a key role in protecting the gist perception of advertising under adverse exposure conditions. The underlying mechanism is likely to be cognitive rather than sensory. Implications for advertising theory and design are discussed.

Copycats imitate features of leading brands to free ride on their equity. The prevailing belief is that the more similar copycats are to the leader brand, the more positive their evaluation is, and thus the more they free ride. Three studies demonstrate when the reverse holds true: Moderate-similarity copycats are actually evaluated more positively than high-similarity copycats when evaluation takes place comparatively, such as when the leader brand is present rather than absent. The results demonstrate that blatant copycats can be less and subtle copycats can be more perilous than is commonly believed. This finding has implications for marketing theory and practice and trademark law.

This research is the first to test the hypothesis that consumers face a “material trap” in which materialism fosters social isolation which in turn reinforces materialism. It provides evidence that materialism and loneliness are engaged in bidirectional relationships over time. Importantly, it finds that loneliness contributes more to materialism than the other way around. Moreover, it finds that materialism’s contribution to loneliness is not uniformly vicious but critically differs between specific subtypes of materialism. That is, valuing possessions as a happiness medicine or as a success measure increased loneliness, and these subtypes also increased most due to loneliness. Yet seeking possessions for material mirth decreased loneliness and was unaffected by it. These findings are based on longitudinal data from over 2,500 consumers across 6 years and a new latent growth model. They reveal how materialism and loneliness form a self-perpetuating vicious and virtuous cycle depending on the materialism subtype.

The importance of pricing decisions for firms has fueled an extensive stream of research on price elasticities. In an influential meta-analytical study, Tellis (1988) summarized price elasticity research findings until 1986. However, empirical generalizations on price elasticity require modifications because of (1) changes in market characteristics (i.e., characteristics of brands, product categories, and economic conditions) and (2) changes in the research methodology used to assess price elasticities. Therefore, the authors present a meta-analysis of price elasticity with new empirical generalizations on its determinants. Across a set of 1851 price elasticities based on 81 studies, the average price elasticity is -2.62. A salient finding is that over the past four decades, sales elasticities have significantly increased in magnitude, whereas share and choice elasticities have remained fairly constant. The authors find that accommodating price endogeneity has a strong (magnitude-increasing) impact on price elasticities. A striking null result is that accounting for heterogeneity does not affect elasticities significantly. The authors also present an analysis that explains the difference between their findings and Tellis's findings, and they indicate which new price elasticity studies are most desirable.

An eye‐tracking experiment with four processing goals and a free‐viewing condition reveals goal control of attention even during a few seconds of self‐paced ad exposure. An ad‐memorization goal enhanced attention to the body text, pictorial, and brand design objects. A brand‐learning goal enhanced attention to the body text but simultaneously inhibited attention to the pictorial design. This supports the thesis that ad informativeness is goal contingent. Differences in pupillary diameter between ad objects but not between processing goals reflect the pupil’s role in maintaining optimal vision. Implications of the findings for advertising theory and avenues for future research are indicated.