Perspectives on Methodology in Consumer Research

Perspectives on Methodology in Consumer Research

Perspectives on Methodology in Consumer Research Edited by David Brinberg and Richard 1. Lutz With 32 Figures Springer-Verlag New York Berlin Heidelberg London Paris Toyko

David Brinberg Department of Marketing State University of New York at Albany Albany, New York 12222 Richard 1. Lutz Department of Marketing University of Florida Gainesville, Florida 32611 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Main entry under title Perspectives on methodology in consumer research Includes bibliographies and indexes. 1. Consumers-Research-Addresses, essays, lectures. 2. Marketing research-addresses, essays, lectures. 3.Motivation research (Marketing)-Addresses, essays, lectures. I. Brinberg, David. II. Lutz, Richard John, 1947- HF5415.3.P464 1986 658.8 '34 85-26047 1986 by Springer-Verlag New York Inc. Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover 1 st edition 1986 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be translated or reproduced in any form without written permission from Springer-Verlag, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010, U.S.A. The use of general descriptive names, trade names, trademarks, etc. in this publication, even if the former are not especially identified, is not to be taken as a sign that such names, as understood by the Trade Marks and Merchandise Marks Act, may accordingly be used freely by anyone. Typeset by Publishers Service, Bozeman, Montana. 9 8 7 6 543 2 1 ISBN-13: 978-1-4613-8611-7 DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4613-8609-4 e-isbn-13: 978-1-4613-8609-4

Preface Methodological advances in consumer behavior are increasing rapidly. We can characterize these advances by work in two logically separate but functionally related areas: (a) the philosophical underpinnings of our methods, and (b) the analytic strategies for examining the phenomena of interest in the field. An important aspect in communicating these advances is the demonstration of their use on focal problems in consumer behavior. Current research strategies and analytic techniques in the field of consumer research reflect the dominant logical empiricist epistemology. The development of new epistemologies (e.g., scientific relativism, hypothetical realism), however, is likely to modify the dominant logical empiricist approach and is also likely to influence the analytic strategies used to conduct research. For instance, with the increased awareness of scientific relativism and hypothetical realism, greater emphasis is anticipated for idiographic rather than nomothetic designs, for observational rather than experimental designs, for process rather than static analyses, and for more sophisticated techniques for summarizing findings across studies. The major theme underlying this volume is that conceptual, analytic, and substantive diversity are essential for consumer behavior research to advance. Collectively, the chapters we present in this volume are a diverse set of perspectives for the study of consumer behavior. This volume is organized into three parts: (1) philosophical orientations toward consumer behavior research, (2) analytic strategies for consumer behavior research, and (3) applications of these orientations and strategies to current research areas. The first part contains two chapters that focus on alternative approaches toward science and new epistemological approaches toward marketing and consumer behavior. In the first chapter, Belk contrasts art versus science as ways of generating and testing hypotheses. He describes how literature, comics, painting, photography, grave goods, music, film, and poetry all can be used to provide some understanding of materialism. The basic premise of his chapter is that multiple orientations are essential for a thorough understanding ofa phenomenon.

vi Preface Moreover, Belk argues that to limit research strategies to experimental methods severely and unnecessarily restricts what the researcher is able to learn about the focal problem. Ryan contrasts the traditional logical empiricist philosophy of science with the more current work in relativism and the "new physics." He argues that buyer behavior researchers have been preoccupied with social psychological theories that are embedded in logical empiricist philosophy. An illustration is presented in the form of a reconceptualization of the variable ordering controversy in cognitive response models. That illustration highlights how the "new physics" can alleviate problems arising from an empirical bias and can lead to richer concepts and theories. In particular, the role of the scientist is viewed as more proactive and, to some extent, inseparable from the phenomena under study. In Part II, we present four chapters that describe recent analytic advances. Jaccard and Wood examine the limitations of nomothetic (aggregate) level analyses and present a detailed analysis of consumer decision making at an idiothetic (individual) level. In their application of idiothetic designs to consumer decision making, Jaccard and Wood describe a systematic and thorough analysis of: (1) an individual's preference structure among a set of options and (2) the perceptual structure among the attributes associated with each option. The implications of their approach for attitude and behavioral change are presented. In his chapter, Dillon discusses issues in the use of latent variables in consumer behavior research. After a short introduction to causal modeling, and in particular, the influential LISREL model, Dillon applies this technique to an analysis of the attitude-behavior relation. He highlights the need to consider both the convergent and discriminant validity oftheoretical concepts when using LISREL and the problems associated with collinearity among latent variables. In that discussion, Dillon identifies a number of issues concerning the limitations associated with the application of LISREL to consumer behavior research. Further, Dillon describes a sequence of steps for the use of LISREL when analyzing a multitraitmultimethod matrix. Brinberg and Jaccard summarize the numerous meta-analytic techniques that have been proposed for the quantitative integration of a set of empirical findings. Initially, these authors describe the strengths and weaknesses associated with a literature review. As they note, a reviewer can increase his/her understanding of a focal problem by partitioning the set of findings across a number of facets. The facets described in their chapter focus on substantive, methodological, and conceptual issues. The quantitative techniques for summarizing and contrasting a set of findings are then presented and sample data are described to illustrate the use of these techniques. Moore describes the use of both procedural and analytic strategies to study several areas in consumer behavior that involve dyadic interaction (e.g., buyer-seller interaction and couple decision making). As Moore notes, these research areas are traditionally examined using only static approaches (e.g., self-report questionnaires), although the phenomena are clearly both inter-

Preface vii active and dynamic. Moore discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the various coding procedures used to examine social interaction data and he presents a variety of analytic techniques that can be used to extract information from these data. In Part III, we present two chapters that describe current research areas in consumer behavior that use the epistemological or analytic techniques discussed in Parts I and II. Hirschman and Holbrook examine the problem of experiential consumption from an epistemology embedded in a relativistic tradition. These authors describe the relation among thought, emotion, activity, and values and relate each of these concepts to the consumption experience. Several methodological approaches for the study of consumption experience consistent with the relativistic epistemology are described (e.g., role-taking and introspection). The application of these techniques to the consumption experience is then illustrated. Meyer describes a theory and an approach for examining the learning of multiattribute preferences. Consistent with a relativistic and an idiographic approach, the focus of this chapter is on an individual rather than an aggregate level analysis. Meyer argues that evaluations are formed through a directed search across a schematically organized knowledge base. The proposed structure described in his chapter provides a unified framework for explaining a diversity of empirical findings in product impression formation, learning, and inference. In our selection of topics for this volume, we are not taking the position that any single researcher needs to use all the perspectives described by the set of authors. We do take the position, however, that the field of consumer research collectively, needs to approach the study of a substantive problem from a wide variety of perspectives in order to increase the field's understanding of that problem. For example, the use of diverse approaches to study the same focal problem can be found in the chapters by Ryan, Jaccard and Wood, and Dillon. A common theme across these three chapters is the focus on information processing, and more specifically, the relation between attitudes and behavior. Ryan discusses the relation between attitude and behavior by examining the epistemological assumptions associated with "traditional" research in that area. Jaccard and Wood examine the attitude-behavior relation from an experimental, idiothetic perspective, while Dillon examines the same relation through the use of causal modeling. These chapters each offer a new perspective on the study of the attitude-behavior relation. We have several objectives for this volume: (a) to summarize, integrate, and evaluate important methodological advances, (b) to provide a comprehensive, though not exhaustive, discussion of epistemological issues and analytic strategies, (c) to illustrate their application for research on current focal problems in consumer behavior, and (d) to provide a sourcebook for researchers interested in current perspectives on methodology in consumer research. We would like to thank the following people for their insightful and thorough reviews: Russell Belk, Jim Bettman, William Dillon, Wes Hutchinson, Jim

viii Preface Jaccard, R. Krishnan, John Lynch, Danny Moore, Alan Sawyer, and Peter Wright. Each of these reviewers helped us to improve this volume. Methodological advances in consumer research are likely to occur when the field is willing to use a diversity of perspectives to study the focal problems of the field. This volume is an attempt to make salient research perspectives that can help add new insights into our understanding of consumer behavior. David Brinberg, State University of New York, Albany Richard 1. Lutz, University of Florida, Gainesville

Contents Part I Philosophical Orientations 1 Art Versus Science as Ways of Generating Knowledge About Materialism............................................... 3 RUSSELL W. BELK Traditional Antipathy of Art and Science............................... 3 Applications of Art to Materialism.................................... 6 How Do Art and Science Differ as Approaches to Knowledge?............. 21 Art's Potential Contributions to Consumer Behavior...................... 22 Conclusion....................................................... 27 2 Implications From the "Old" and the "New" Physics for Studying Buyer Behavior...................................... 37 MICHAEL 1. RYAN Introduction................................................... 37 Psychology as a Traditional Science................................... 39 The Influence of Marketing.......................................... 40 Goals of the "Old" Science.......................................... 43 Implications From the "New" Science................................. 46 Affect, Cognition, and Purchasing Intention............................ 48 Conclusion....................................................... 56 Part II Analytic Strategies 3 An Idiothetic Analysis of Behavioral Decision Making............... 67 JAMES JACCARD AND GREGORY WOOD Limitations of Nomothetic Treatment of Data........................... 68 An Idiothetic Approach to Behavioral Decision Making................... 73 Concluding Remarks... 103

x Contents 4 Building Consumer Behavior Models with LISREL: Issues in Applications... 107 WILLIAM R. DILLON The LISREL Model................................................ 108 Applications...................................................... 117 Application 1: Validity Assessment and the Attitude-Behavior Relationship... 118 Application 2: Inequality Constraints... 123 Application 3: MTMM Data... 128 Issues and Caveats in Applications.................................... 132 Issue 1: Do We Really Believe Our Models?............................ 133 Issue 2: Empirical Identification........................... 137 Issue 3: Offending Estimate... 141 Issue 4: Interpretational Confounding................................. 149 Concluding Remarks... 152 5 Meta-Analysis: Techniques for the Quantitative Integration of Research Findings... 155 DAVID BRINBERG AND JAMES JACCARD Integrating Research Findings: A Brief Historical Review... " 155 Increasing Our Confidence and Understanding in a Research Finding........ 159 Quantitative Procedures............................................. 165 Summary and Conclusions... 176 6 Social Interaction Data: Procedural and Analytic Strategies DANNY L. MOORE Social Interaction Research in Marketing and Consumer Behavior... 182 Observational Coding Systems....................................... 187 Analytic Strategies for Social Interaction Data... 195 Using Social Interaction Data for Theory Development... 204 181 Part III Applications 7 Expanding the Ontology and Methodology of Research on the Consumption Experience................................... 213 ELIZABETH C. HIRSCHMAN AND MORRIS B. HOLBROOK Introduction...................................................... 213 The Consumption Experience... 214 Ontology: An Expanded Model of the Consumption Experience............ 217 Systemic Inter-Relationships and Overlaps in the Consumption Experience............................................ 233 Methodology: Some Extensions in Techniques for Studying the Consumption Experience......................................... 236 Conclusion....................................................... 244

253 Contents xi 8 A Theory of the Inductive Learning of Multiattribute Preferences... 253 ROBERT 1. MEYER Introduction... 0 Theory... 258 Discussion........................................................ 273 Appendix 1. The Pattern Recognition Algorithm... 278 Appendix 2. The Evaluation Algorithm................................ 280 Author Index... 287 Subject Index....................................................... 299

Contributors RUSSELL W. BELK, College of Business Administration, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112. DAVID BRINBERG, Department of Marketing, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, New York 12222. WILLIAM R. DILLON, Department of Marketing, Baruch College, City University of New York, New York 10010. ELIZABETH C. HIRSCHMAN, Department of Marketing, New York University, New York, New York 10003. MORRIS B. HOLBROOK, Department of Marketing, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027. JAMES JACCARD, Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, New York 12222. RICHARD 1. LUTZ, Department of Marketing, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611. ROBERT 1. MEYER, Graduate School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90024. DANNY L. MOORE, Strategic Business Development, Burke Marketing Services, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. MICHAEL 1. RYAN, Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109. GREGORY WOOD, Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, New York 12222.