Latent Variables and Marketing Theory: The Paradigm Shift

An extensive discussion concerning formal, empirical, and ontological status of latent variables in psychological literature concerns the distinction between the realist and anti-realist positions within the classical test theory and item response theory (IRT) psychometric traditions in measurement of latent variables (Measurement 6:25–53, 2008; Salzberger and Koller, J Bus Res 66:1307–1317, 2013). However, this bi-polar view seems to be too distant from the perspectives of schools of thought in the marketing discipline and actual developments of measurement models in specific fields of marketing research. An extensive discussion concerning the reflective–formative latent variables dilemma and relational status of constructs in the contemporary marketing opens space for the redefinition of the nature and role of latent variables in marketing science. The aim of the paper is to outline the interlink between theoretical schools within marketing discipline and contemporary discussion concerning the nature and use of latent variables in marketing.

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