Despite recurring concerns about common method variance (CMV) in survey research, the information systems (IS) community remains largely uncertain of the extent of such potential biases. To address this uncertainty, this paper attempts to systematically examine the impact of CMV on the inferences drawn from survey research in the IS area. First, we describe the available approaches for assessing CMV and conduct an empirical study to compare them. From an actual survey involving 227 respondents, we find that although CMV is present in the research areas examined, such biases are not substantial. The results also suggest that few differences exist between the relatively new marker-variable technique and other well-established conventional tools in terms of their ability to detect CMV. Accordingly, the marker-variable technique was employed to infer the effect of CMV on correlations from previously published studies. Our findings, based on the reanalysis of 216 correlations, suggest that the inflated correlation caused by CMV may be expected to be on the order of 0.10 or less, and most of the originally significant correlations remain significant even after controlling for CMV. Finally, by extending the marker-variable technique, we examined the effect of CMV on structural relationships in past literature. Our reanalysis reveals that contrary to the concerns of some skeptics, CMV-adjusted structural relationships not only remain largely significant but also are not statistically differentiable from uncorrected estimates. In summary, this comprehensive and systematic analysis offers initial evidence that (1) the marker-variable technique can serve as a convenient, yet effective, tool for accounting for CMV, and (2) common method biases in the IS domain are not as serious as those found in other disciplines.common method variance, method biases, marker variable, logit analysis, path analysis
As business-to-business customers increasingly use online channels, sellers must reconsider strategic investments in at least two areas: the salesperson channel, which faces the threat of substitution, and customer-specific discounts, which may be more precisely targeted. The authors draw on communication theory to posit that a customer’s search and purchasing in the seller’s online channels interact positively with both salesperson contact and customer-specific discounts to drive the seller’s customer-level sales and profit return on these investments. A multimethod approach using a complex data set from a large industrial seller provides broad support for hypothesized effects. Two post hoc experiments reveal how online and salesperson channels are complementary, together improving customer–seller communication such that the seller is better able to fulfill customer needs and reduce customer perceived risk. This research advances the multichannel and pricing literatures and offers actionable insights for business-to-business marketers, revealing how online channels can complement traditional seller investments in salespeople and customer-specific discounts.
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Each research domain carries the burden of examining the effects of common method variance (CMV) on published research within the domain. To focus on this concern in the context of the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this research empirically compares several methods of detecting the presence of and estimating the level of CMV in the TPB domain. These methods include various implementations of the marker variable technique and versions of the multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) technique. The results show that the marker variable technique provides estimates of CMV and CMV-corrected correlations and paths that are consistent with those produced using the other methods. Next, one implementation of the marker variable technique method is implemented post hoc on a large data set of published TPB studies. This analysis provides strong confirmatory evidence that the effects of CMV do not alter the substantive inferences of study results in prior research. Overall, these findings support putting to rest concerns about the adverse influence of CMV in the TPB domain.
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