Three Essential Analytical Techniques for the Behavioral Marketing Researcher: Median Splits, Mean-Centering, and Mediation Analysis (Foundations and Trends(r) in Marketing)

Three Essential Analytical Techniques for the Behavioral Marketing Researcher: Median Splits, Mean-Centering, and Mediation Analysis reviews several topics that are essential complementary analytics that enable behavioral marketing researchers to thoroughly test theories and hypotheses, and thereby advance their respective literatures and contribute to knowledge bases. The intended audience for this monograph is behaviorally oriented marketers interested in learning more about some core analytical tools of the trade. The authors proceed under the assumption that most consumer behavior researchers have a strong, clear foundation in the understanding and execution of experimentation and the analysis of variance (ANOVA). After an introduction, Section 2 reviews the use of median splits - what they are and when it is it acceptable and completely appropriate and legitimate to use them. Section 3 examines the use of mean-centering when conducting moderated multiple regressions. Section 4 discusses mediation analysis, first describing the basic approach and then covering advanced issues around fitting the model, including structural equations models, multi-item scales, and categorical variables. Section 5 reviews the earlier topics, and makes further recommendations.

Dawn Iacobucci is the Bronson Ingram Professor of Marketing at the Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University (since 2007). She has been Senior Associate Dean at Vanderbilt (2008-2010) and Professor of Marketing at Kellogg (Northwestern University, 1987-2004), University of Arizona (2001-2002), and Wharton (University of Pennsylvania, 2004-2007). She received her MS in statistics, and MA and PhD in quantitative psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her MTS from Garrett Theological Seminary. Dr. Iacobucci's research focuses on modeling dyadic interactions and social networks, customer satisfaction and service quality, and multivariate and methodological research questions. She has published in the Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Marketing Research, Harvard Business Review, the Journal of Consumer Psychology, the International Journal of Research in Marketing, Marketing Science, the Journal of Service Research, Psychometrika, Psychological Bulletin, and Social Networks.

"Frank R. Kardes" is a Professor of Marketing at the University of Cincinnati and a former faculty member of the Sloan School of Management at MIT. His research focuses on a wide range of topics in consumer psychology and product management&151;including consumer judgment and inference processes, persuasion and advertising, the pioneering brand advantage, and judgment based on limited evidence. His research has appeared in many leading scientific journals, and he is frequently invited to present his research at leading universities throughout the world (including Wharton, INSEAD, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and the London Business School). He serves on the editorial boards of the "Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, International Journal of Research in Marketing, International Quarterly Journal of Marketing," and "Marketing Letters." Dr. Kardes is a former Co-Editor of the "Journal of Consumer Psychology," and "Advances in Consumer Research," and is currently an Associate Editor of the "Journal of Consumer Research." Dr. Kardes is a former President of the Society for Consumer Psychology and is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, the Society for Consumer Psychology, and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.