Yi He, Michael A. Merz, and Dana L. Alden
Executive Summary
The world has continued to shrink in response to globalization. Echoing this trend, an increasing number of studies have empirically examined cross-national marketing topics. Although such research can provide valuable insights, several scholars have emphasized the importance of minimizing the possibility of underlying biases associated with collecting data in multiple countries.
Many of these researchers have argued that identifying and controlling for potential biases requires the establishment of cross-national equivalence before hypothesis testing. Several statistical diagnostic approaches using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis have been proposed to assess measurement invariance. In particular, one study offers a systematic sequence of tests to assess measurement invariance (MI).It is important to investigate how MI tests have been received by the cross-national marketing academic community. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to examine (1) the extent to which cross-national empirical marketing scholars report MI assessment results and (2) what cross-national empirical marketing scholars think about MI assessment in general.
In Study 1, He, Merz, and Alden analyze cross-national empirical articles (243) published in 15 peer-reviewed marketing journals from 2000 to 2005. Although the results indicate a steady growth of published cross-national empirical marketing research and assessment of MI, only 28% of the studies undertook the procedure. Furthermore, of the articles that assessed MI, more than 25% did not follow recommended procedures in terms of matching the study design and MI assessment level. These results suggest that the adoption process of MI assessment has occurred relatively slowly. In Study 2, the authors analyze responses from 86 cross-national empirical marketing scholars regarding their knowledge about, attitudes toward, and use of MI assessment. The results indicate that the relatively low utilization of MI assessment is due to low MI knowledge and the relative sophistication of the techniques.
In summary, this research reveals a somewhat surprising reality—namely, limited reports of MI in cross-national empirical marketing articles and a lack of MI knowledge among cross-national marketing scholars. Increasing confidence in cross-national marketing research will require much effort on the part of researchers, conference organizers, reviewers, and editors to establish methodological standards for all published cross-national empirical marketing studies (e.g., reporting MI assessment). Yet given the importance of such theory to effective global strategy, the extra effort required to make MI assessment standard practice will surely yield returns that far exceed the initial investment.
Biography
Yi He is a doctoral candidate in International Management in the Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She received her master's degree from the University of Cincinnati. Her current research interests include consumer behavior/psychology, cross-cultural consumer behavior, psychology of social technology, and advertising effectiveness. She has articles forthcoming in several journals, including Journal of Business Research, International Marketing Review, and International Journal of Advertising.
Michael A. Merz is a doctoral candidate in the Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, specializing in International Marketing. His research interests include (global) branding, advertising effectiveness, corporate social responsibility, service-dominant logic, and internet marketing. He has articles published and forthcoming in journals such as Review of Marketing Research and International Marketing Review.
Dana L. Alden is the William R. Johnson Jr. Distinguished Professor of Marketing in the Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Prof. Alden completed his PhD in International Business and Marketing at the University of Texas at Austin in 1990. Prof. Alden’s research has covered marketing communications, globalization of consumer culture, and healthcare marketing. In 2005, he was ranked the 2nd most frequently cited international marketing communications scholar by the Journal of Advertising. In 2007, he received the “Excellence in Global Marketing Research Award” from AMA. Prof. Alden’s research is now focused on healthcare management in developing countries with special interests in the antecedents and consequences of patient satisfaction, patient-physician treatment decision making, and social marketing/social franchising. His studies have appeared in leading journals such as Journal of Marketing, Social Science & Medicine, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Journal of Advertising, and Journal of International Business Studies.
Journal of International Marketing, Vol. 16, No. 2, June 2008
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