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I follow R. A. Fisher’s The Design of Experiments (1935), using randomization statistical inference to test the null hypothesis of no treatment effects in a comprehensive sample of 53 experimental papers drawn from the journals of the American Economic Association. In the average paper, randomization tests of the significance of individual treatment effects find 13% to 22% fewer significant results than are found using authors’ methods. In joint tests of multiple treatment effects appearing together in tables, randomization tests yield 33% to 49% fewer statistically significant results than conventional tests. Bootstrap and jackknife methods support and confirm the randomization results.

An increasing number of firms introduce service robots, such as physical robots and virtual chatbots, to provide services to customers. While some firms use robots that resemble human beings by looking and acting humanlike to increase customers’ use intention of this technology, others employ machinelike robots to avoid uncanny valley effects, assuming that very humanlike robots may induce feelings of eeriness. There is no consensus in the service literature regarding whether customers’ anthropomorphism of robots facilitates or constrains their use intention. The present meta-analysis synthesizes data from 11,053 individuals interacting with service robots reported in 108 independent samples. The study synthesizes previous research to clarify this issue and enhance understanding of the construct. We develop a comprehensive model to investigate relationships between anthropomorphism and its antecedents and consequences. Customer traits and predispositions (e.g., computer anxiety), sociodemographics (e.g., gender), and robot design features (e.g., physical, nonphysical) are identified as triggers of anthropomorphism. Robot characteristics (e.g., intelligence) and functional characteristics (e.g., usefulness) are identified as important mediators, although relational characteristics (e.g., rapport) receive less support as mediators. The findings clarify contextual circumstances in which anthropomorphism impacts customer intention to use a robot. The moderator analysis indicates that the impact depends on robot type (i.e., robot gender) and service type (i.e., possession-processing service, mental stimulus-processing service). Based on these findings, we develop a comprehensive agenda for future research on service robots in marketing.

A typical behavioral research paper features multiple studies of a common phenomenon that are analyzed solely in isolation. Because the studies are of a common phenomenon, this practice is inefficient and forgoes important benefits that can be obtained only by analyzing them jointly in a single-paper meta-analysis (SPM). To facilitate SPM, we introduce meta-analytic methodology that is user-friendly, widely applicable, and specially tailored to the SPM of the set of studies that appear in a typical behavioral research paper. Our SPM methodology provides important benefits for study summary, theory testing, and replicability that we illustrate via three case studies that include papers recently published in the Journal of Consumer Research and the Journal of Marketing Research. We advocate that authors of typical behavioral research papers use it to supplement the single-study analyses that independently examine the multiple studies in the body of their papers as well as the “qualitative meta-analysis” that verbally synthesizes the studies in the general discussion of their papers. When used as such, this requires only a minor modification of current practice. We provide an easy-to-use website that implements our SPM methodology.

Impulse buying by consumers has received considerable attention in consumer research. The phenomenon is interesting because it is not only prompted by a variety of internal psychological factors but also influenced by external, market-related stimuli. The meta-analysis reported in this article integrates findings from 231 samples and more than 75,000 consumers to extend understanding of the relationship between impulse buying and its determinants, associated with several internal and external factors. Traits (e.g., sensation-seeking, impulse buying tendency), motives (e.g., utilitarian, hedonic), consumer resources (e.g., time, money), and marketing stimuli emerge as key triggers of impulse buying. Consumers’ self-control and mood states mediate and explain the affective and cognitive psychological processes associated with impulse buying. By establishing these pathways and processes, this study helps clarify factors contributing to impulse buying and the role of factors in resisting such impulses. It also explains the inconsistent findings in prior research by highlighting the context-dependency of various determinants. Specifically, the results of a moderator analysis indicate that the impacts of many determinants depend on the consumption context (e.g., product’s identity expression, price level in the industry).

Although creativity is often considered a key success factor in advertising, the marketing literature lacks a systematic empirical account of when and how advertising creativity works. The authors use a meta-analysis to synthesize the literature on advertising creativity and test different theoretical explanations for its effects. The analysis covers 93 data sets taken from 67 papers that provide 878 effect sizes. The results show robust positive effects but also highlight the importance of considering both originality and appropriateness when investing in advertising creativity. Moderation analyses show that the effects of advertising creativity are stronger for high- (vs. low-) involvement products, and that the effects on ad (but not brand) reactions are marginally stronger for unfamiliar brands. An empirical test of theoretical mechanisms shows that affect transfer, processing, and signaling jointly explain these effects, and that originality mainly leads to affect transfer, whereas appropriateness leads to signaling. The authors also call for further research connecting advertising creativity with sales and studying its effects in digital contexts.

•A meta-analysis across 131 studies shows not all scarcity effects are equal.•Demand-based scarcity is most effective for utilitarian products.•Supply-based scarcity has large effects on the purchase intentions of experiences.•Time-based scarcity has the greatest effect on high involvement products.•Managers need to consider these factors to maximize the success of scarcity tactics. Scarcity tactics are an essential tool for marketers. Cues that signal the current or potential unavailability of a product generally enhance its value and desirability and in turn increase purchase intentions. While there have been earlier reviews, the fragmented nature of the research to date means there is no cohesion across findings. Given that retailers employ a variety of scarcity cues in a diversity of settings, it is important to identify the magnitude of the effect of scarcity cues and how the effect on consumers’ purchase intentions changes across conditions. This research presents a meta-analysis of 416 effect sizes from 131 studies. Results show that demand-based scarcity is most effective for utilitarian products, supply-based scarcity for experiences, and time-based scarcity for high involvement products. The results show that managers need to consider the above factors to maximize the success of scarcity tactics in their marketing campaigns. [Display omitted]

Social norms shape consumer behavior. However, it is not clear under what circumstances social norms are more versus less effective in doing so. This gap is addressed through an interdisciplinary meta-analysis examining the impact of social norms on consumer behavior across a wide array of contexts involving the purchase, consumption, use, and disposal of products and services, including socially approved (e.g., fruit consumption, donations) and disapproved (e.g., smoking, gambling) behaviors. Drawing from reactance theory and based on a cross-disciplinary data set of 250 effect sizes from research spanning 1978–2019 representing 112,478 respondents from 22 countries, the authors examine the effects of five categories of moderators of the effectiveness of social norms on consumer behavior: (1) target behavior characteristics, (2) communication factors, (3) consumer costs, (4) environmental factors, and (5) methodological characteristics. The findings suggest that while the effect of social norms on approved behavior is stable across time and cultures, their effect on disapproved behavior has grown over time and is stronger in survival and traditional cultures. Communications identifying specific organizations or close group members enhance compliance with social norms, as does the presence of monetary costs. The authors leverage their findings to offer managerial implications and a future research agenda for the field.

Emphasizing customer satisfaction as a strategic lever for enhancing business performance is a widespread business practice. However, just over 25 years of empirical studies by academic researchers has produced evidence that is sometimes contradictory. Hence, greater academic clarity and improved managerial understanding could result from a meta-analysis of the customer satisfaction-business performance relationship. To that end, the authors analyzed 251 correlations from 96 studies published between 1991 and 2017. While the satisfaction-performance relationship is positive and statistically significant on average (r = .101), more meaningful insights emerge from the explication of moderating and mediating relationships. Illustrative of these insights is the finding that satisfaction is more appropriately depicted as mediating the effects of selected marketing strategy variables on firm performance outcomes. Moreover, when satisfaction is viewed in the right setting using the right satisfaction and performance measures, a most favorable contingencies (MFC) perspective, the estimated correlation is reasonably strong (r = .349).

Influencer marketing significantly impacts consumer behavior and decision-making. However, identifying the drivers of influencer marketing effectiveness and conditions that enhance their impact remains challenging. This meta-analysis, which synthesizes 1,531 effect sizes from 251 papers, assesses influencer marketing effectiveness by examining its antecedents, mediators, and moderators. Building on the persuasion knowledge model to develop and test a framework, we identify post, follower, and influencer characteristics as key antecedents impacting both non-transactional (i.e., attitude, behavioral engagement, and purchase intention) and transactional (i.e., purchase behavior and sales) marketing outcomes. For non-transactional outcomes, follower characteristics (social identity) have the strongest effects on consumer attitudes and behavioral engagement, while post characteristics (informational value and hedonic value) exert stronger effects on purchase intention. For transactional outcomes, influencer characteristics (influencer communication) have the strongest effects on purchase behavior. These antecedents also affect marketing outcomes indirectly through persuasion knowledge and source credibility. Moderation results indicate that direct and indirect effects of antecedents depend on social media types (i.e., nature of connection and usage) and product types (i.e., information availability and status-signaling capability). These results consolidate and advance the literature and offer insights into enhancing the effectiveness of influencer marketing.

The technology readiness (TR) index aims to better understand people’s propensity to embrace and use cutting-edge technologies. The initial TR construct considers four dimensions—innovativeness, optimism, insecurity, and discomfort—that collectively explain technology usage. The present meta-analysis advances understanding of TR by reexamining its dimensionality, and investigating mediating mechanisms and moderating influences in the TR–technology usage relationship. Using data from 193 independent samples extracted from 163 articles reported by 69,263 individuals, we find that TR is best conceptualized as a two-dimensional construct differentiating between motivators (innovativeness, optimism) and inhibitors (insecurity, discomfort). We observe strong indirect effects of these dimensions on technology usage through mediators proposed by the quality–value–satisfaction chain and technology acceptance model. The results suggest stronger relationships for motivators than for inhibitors, but also that these TR dimensions exert influence through different mediators. Further, the moderator results suggest that the strength of TR–technology usage relationships depends on the technology type (hedonic/utilitarian), examined firm characteristics (voluntary/mandatory use; firm support), and country context (gross domestic product; human development). Finally, customer age, education, and experience are related to TR. These findings enhance managers’ understanding of how TR influences technology usage.