Dante M. Pirouz

An Overview of Partial Least Squares

Partial least squares analysis is a multivariate statistical technique that allows comparison between multiple response variables and multiple explanatory variables. Partial least squares is one of a number of covariance-based statistical methods which are often referred to as structural equation modeling or SEM. It was designed to deal with multiple regression when data has small sample, missing values, or multicollinearity. Partial least squares regression has been demonstrated on both real data and in simulations (Garthwaite, 1994, Tennenhaus, 1998). It has been very popular in hard science, especially chemistry and chemometrics, where there is a big problem with a high number of correlated variables and a limited number of observations. Its use in marketing has been more limited although data has similar problems (Ryan, Rayner, & Morrison, 1999). This paper provides a brief overview of partial least squares (PLS) and its use as an analytical method in marketing research.

Navigating the Central Tensions in Research on At-Risk Consumers: Challenges and Opportunities

A perennial problem in social marketing and public policy is the plight of at-risk consumers. The authors define at-risk consumers as marketplace participants who, because of historical or personal circumstances or disabilities, may be harmed by marketers’ practices or may be unable or unwilling to take full advantage of marketplace opportunities. This definition refers to either objective reality or perceptions. Early research focused on consumers who were at risk because they were poor, ethnic or racial minorities, immigrants, women, or elderly. Todays researchers also study consumers who are at risk because they are from religious minorities, disabled, illiterate, homeless, indigent, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. The authors identify four tensions affecting research on and policy and marketing applications for at-risk populations: the value of focusing on (1) vulnerabilities versus strengths, (2) radical versus marginal change, (3) targeting versus nontargeting, and (4) encouraging knowledgeable versus naive consumers. They conclude with a discussion of the significance of including at-risk consumers as full marketplace participants and identify future research directions.

From Use to Abuse: When Everyday Consumption Behaviours Morph Into Addictive Consumptive Behaviours

Addiction does not begin with the harmful effects of being dependent on a particular consumption behaviour such as smoking, alcohol, or illegal drugs. Instead it starts with everyday seemingly benign behaviours that, through psychological, biophysical, and/or environmental triggers, can become harmful and morph into an addiction. We develop a framework based on harm and dependence that can help researchers better understand how consumers could become addicted to various types of everyday benign consumption behaviours (e.g., texting, shopping, plastic surgery, and other types of normally acceptable behaviours). Furthermore, the conceptual framework is based on expanding the concept of addiction to include the pre-addiction process with a focus on this continuum of benign to harmful behavioural consumption. This framework describes how consumers progress from a normal state of consumption into a state of addictive abuse and dependence. The framework discusses key issues and future research that can aid public policy researchers, practitioners, and marketers to better understand the entire pre-addiction process.

Boosting safety behaviour: Descriptive norms encourage child booster seat usage amongst low involvement parents

Campaigns advocating behavioural changes often employ social norms as a motivating technique, favouring injunctive norms (what is typically approved or disapproved) over descriptive norms (what is typically done). Here, we investigate an upside to including descriptive norms in health and safety appeals. Because descriptive norms are easy to process and understand, they should provide a heuristic to guide behaviour in those individuals who lack the interest or motivation to reflect on the advocated behaviour more deeply. When those descriptive norms are positive - suggesting that what is done is consistent with what ought to be done - including them in campaigns should be particularly beneficial at influencing this low-involvement segment. We test this proposition via research examining booster seat use amongst parents with children of booster seat age, and find that incorporating positive descriptive norms into a related campaign is particularly impactful for parents who report low involvement in the topic of booster seat safety. Descriptive norms are easy to state and easy to understand, and our research suggests that these norms resonate with low involvement individuals. As a result, we recommend incorporating descriptive norms when possible into health and safety campaigns.

Culture, Globalization, and Stock Price Volatility

The primary purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of culture on stock price volatility. The focal causal chain links dimensions of culture (i.e., linguistic structure and values) to globalization to the volatility of prices in 50 stock markets around the world. Other explanatory variables included in the model are characteristics of individual stock markets (age and market capitalization) and countries (per capita income and population). Partial least square regression is used to estimate the parameters of a comprehensive model using stock price volatility as the dependent variable. Our findings suggest that stock price volatility is influenced by both aspects of culture included in the study. While the linguistic influence was found to be direct, the influence of cultural values was found to be mediated by the extent of globalization of the countries. The generality of our theory is supported by our analyses of the volatility of prices for other categories of consumer purchases as well.