A Critical Appraisal of Demand Artifacts in Consumer Research

Especially since the publication of Sawyer's instructive article on the topic, consumer researchers have been concerned that demand artifacts significantly compromise the validity and generalizability of experimental findings. In this article the authors provide an overview of the issues surrounding the demand-artifacts controversy, evaluate the preconditions for demand artifacts. and offer a critique of suppositions about the consequences and appropriate control of demand artifacts. J. Kellaris and A. Cox's (1989) critique of G. Gorn's (1982) well-known classical conditioning experiments provides the back-drop for much of the discussion. Copyright 1991 by the University of Chicago.

[1]  Alan G. Sawyer.  Demand Artifacts in Laboratory Experiments in Consumer Research , 1975 .

[2]  Thomas J. Madden,et al.  A Closer Look at Classical Conditioning , 1985 .

[3]  J. Lynch.  On the External Validity of Experiments in Consumer Research , 1982 .

[4]  M. W. Minor.  Experimenter-expectancy effect as a function of evaluation apprehension. , 1970, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[5]  Gerald J. Gorn,et al.  The Effects of Music in Advertising on Choice Behavior: A Classical Conditioning Approach: , 1982 .

[6]  John L. Lastovicka,et al.  Improving the Detection of Personality-Behavior Relationships in Consumer Research , 1988 .

[7]  R. Hogarth,et al.  Judging probable cause. , 1986 .

[8]  M. Domjan.  The principles of learning and behavior , 1982 .

[9]  T. Cook,et al.  Quasi-experimentation: Design & analysis issues for field settings , 1979 .

[10]  John Innes,et al.  The effect of presence of an audience, evaluation apprehension and objective self-awareness on learning , 1975 .

[11]  L. Christensen.  Examination of Subject Roles , 1982 .

[12]  B. Burkhart.  Apprehension about Evaluation, Paralanguage Cues and the Experimenter-Bias Effect , 1976 .

[13]  C. Turner,et al.  Effects of subject sophistication and evaluation apprehension on aggressive responses to weapons. , 1974, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[14]  M. Ronald Buckley,et al.  Measurement Error and Theory Testing in Consumer Research: An Illustration of the Importance of Construct Validation , 1988 .

[15]  Terence A. Shimp,et al.  Classical Conditioning of Consumer Attitudes: Four Experiments in an Advertising Context , 1987 .

[16]  D. C. Glass,et al.  Evaluation apprehension and the social facilitation of dominant and subordinate responses. , 1968, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[17]  R. Folger,et al.  Controversial issues in social research methods , 1987 .

[18]  R. Lindsay,et al.  Avoiding artifact in the search for bias: The importance of assessing subjects' perceptions of the experiment. , 1983 .

[19]  John O. Summers,et al.  A Non-Experimental Investigation of Demand Artifacts in a Personal Selling Experiment , 1984 .

[20]  Arie W. Kruglanski,et al.  The Human Subject in the Psychology Experiment: Fact and Artifact , 1975 .

[21]  Bruce E. Wampold,et al.  Statistical significance, reviewer evaluations, and the scientific process: Is there a (statistically) significant relationship? , 1982 .

[22]  G. Gorn,et al.  Observations on Awareness and Conditioning , 1987 .

[23]  M. Orne.  On the social psychology of the psychological experiment: With particular reference to demand characteristics and their implications. , 1962 .

[24]  Leona S. Aiken,et al.  Mediation of artifacts in behavioral research. , 1973 .

[25]  Anthony D. Cox,et al.  The Effects of Background Music in Advertising: A Reassessment , 1989 .

[26]  K. Gergen.  Effects of interaction goals and personality feedback on the presentation of self. , 1965 .

[27]  A. Greenwald.  Consequences of Prejudice Against the Null Hypothesis , 1975 .

[28]  L. Berkowitz,et al.  External validity is more than skin deep: Some answers to criticisms of laboratory experiments. , 1982 .

[29]  Donald B. Rubin,et al.  Comparing Within- and Between-Subjects Studies , 1980 .

[30]  R. Belk,et al.  Assessing Trustworthiness in Naturalistic Consumer Research , 1989 .

[31]  Thomas D. Cook,et al.  Subject effects in laboratory research: An examination of subject roles, demand characteristics, and valid inference. , 1972 .

[32]  I. Bruner.  Music, Mood, and Marketing: , 1990 .

[33]  Joseph A. Cote,et al.  Estimating Trait, Method, and Error Variance: Generalizing across 70 Construct Validation Studies , 1987 .

[34]  B. Schwartz.  Psychology of Learning and Behavior , 1978 .