Scott B. MacKenzie

COMMON METHOD BIASES IN BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE AND RECOMMENDED REMEDIES

Interest in the problem of method biases has a long history in the behavioral sciences. Despite this, a comprehensive summary of the potential sources of method biases and how to control for them does not exist. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to examine the extent to which method biases influence behavioral research results, identify potential sources of method biases, discuss the cognitive processes through which method biases influence responses to measures, evaluate the many different procedural and statistical techniques that can be used to control method biases, and provide recommendations for how to select appropriate procedural and statistical remedies for different types of research settings.

A Critical Review of Construct Indicators and Measurement Model Misspecification in Marketing and Consumer Research

A review of the literature suggests that few studies use formative indicator measurement models, even though they should. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to (a) discuss the distinction between formative and reflective measurement models, (b) develop a set of conceptual criteria that can be used to determine whether a construct should be modeled as having formative or reflective indicators, (c) review the marketing literature to obtain an estimate of the extent of measurement model misspecification in the field, (d) estimate the extent to which measurement model misspecification biases estimates of the relationships between constructs using a Monte Carlo simulation, and (e) provide recommendations for modeling formative indicator constructs. Copyright 2003 by the University of Chicago.

Organizational Citizenship Behaviors: A Critical Review of the Theoretical and Empirical Literature and Suggestions for Future Research

The rapid growth of research on organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) has resulted in some conceptual confusion about the nature of the construct, and made it difficult for all but the most avid readers to keep up with developments in this domain. This paper critically examines the literature on organizational citizenship behavior and other, related constructs. More specifically, it: (a) explores the conceptual similarities and differences between the various forms of “citizenship” behavior constructs identified in the literature; (b) summarizes the empirical findings of both the antecedents and consequences of OCBs; and (c) identifies several interesting directions for future research.

The Role of Attitude toward the Ad as a Mediator of Advertising Effectiveness: A Test of Competing Explanations

Attitude toward the ad (Aad) has been postulated to be a causal mediating variable in the process through which advertising influences brand attitudes and purchase intentions. Previous conceptual a...

An Empirical Examination of the Structural Antecedents of Attitude toward the Ad in an Advertising Pretesting Context

Recent research has identified attitude toward the ad (AAd) as an important construct mediating the effects of advertising on brand attitude and purchase intention. To date, however, little attenti...

Transformational Leader Behaviors and Substitutes for Leadership as Determinants of Employee Satisfaction, Commitment, Trust, and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors

The goal of this study was to examine the effects of transformational leadership behaviors, within the context of Kerr and Jermier’s (1978) substitutes for leadership. Data were collected from 1539 employees across a wide variety of different industries, organizational settings, and job levels. Hierarchical moderated regression analysis procedures generally showed that few of the substitutes variables moderated the effects of the transformational leader behaviors on followers’ attitudes, role perceptions, and “in-role” and “citizenship” behaviors in a manner consistent with the predictions of Howell, Dorfman and Kerr (1986). However, the results did show that: (a) the transformational leader behaviors and substitutes for leadership each had unique effects on follower criterion variables; (b) the total amount of variance accounted for by the substitutes for leadership and the transformational leader behaviors was substantially greater than that reported in prior leadership research; and (c) several of the ...

The Problem of Measurement Model Misspecification in Behavioral and Organizational Research and Some Recommended Solutions

The purpose of this study was to review the distinction between formative- and reflective-indicator measurement models, articulate a set of criteria for deciding whether measures are formative or reflective, illustrate some commonly researched constructs that have formative indicators, empirically test the effects of measurement model misspecification using a Monte Carlo simulation, and recommend new scale development procedures for latent constructs with formative indicators. Results of the Monte Carlo simulation indicated that measurement model misspecification can inflate unstandardized structural parameter estimates by as much as 400% or deflate them by as much as 80% and lead to Type I or Type II errors of inference, depending on whether the exogenous or the endogenous latent construct is misspecified. Implications of this research are discussed.

Organizational citizenship behaviors and sales unit effectiveness

Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) are defined as discretionary, extra-role behaviors on the part of a salesperson that have been shown to influence managers’ evaluations of performance. I...

Construct measurement and validation procedures in MIS and behavioral research: integrating new and existing techniques

Despite the fact that validating the measures of constructs is critical to building cumulative knowledge in MIS and the behavioral sciences, the process of scale development and validation continues to be a challenging activity. Undoubtedly, part of the problem is that many of the scale development procedures advocated in the literature are limited by the fact that they (1) fail to adequately discuss how to develop appropriate conceptual definitions of the focal construct, (2) often fail to properly specify the measurement model that relates the latent construct to its indicators, and (3) underutilize techniques that provide evidence that the set of items used to represent the focal construct actually measures what it purports to measure. Therefore, the purpose of the present paper is to integrate new and existing techniques into a comprehensive set of recommendations that can be used to give researchers in MIS and the behavioral sciences a framework for developing valid measures. First, we briefly elaborate upon some of the limitations of current scale development practices. Following this, we discuss each of the steps in the scale development process while paying particular attention to the differences that are required when one is attempting to develop scales for constructs with formative indicators as opposed to constructs with reflective indicators. Finally, we discuss several things that should be done after the initial development of a scale to examine its generalizability and to enhance its usefulness.

Transformational and Transactional Leadership and Salesperson Performance

This study examines the impact of transformational and transactional leader behaviors on the sales performance and organizational citizenship behaviors of salespeople, as well as the mediating role played by trust and role ambiguity in that process. Measures of six forms of transformational leader behavior, two forms of transactional leader behavior, trust, and role ambiguity were obtained from 477 sales agents working for a large national insurance company. Objective sales performance data were obtained for the agents, and their supervisors provided evaluations of their citizenship behaviors. The findings validate not only the basic notion that transformational leadership influences salespeople to perform “above and beyond the call of duty” but also that transformational leader behaviors actually have stronger direct and indirect relationships with sales performance and organizational citizenship behavior than transactional leader behaviors. Moreover, this is true even when common method biases are controlled. The implications of these findings for future research are discussed.