Keeping It Real in Experimental Research—Understanding When, Where, and How to Enhance Realism and Measure Consumer Behavior

Abstract

In this article, we consider why employing realistic experimental designs and measuring actual behavior is important and beneficial for consumer research. More specifically, we discuss when, where, and how researchers might go about doing this in order to increase the veracity and believability of their work. We analyze the choice of independent variables (IVs) along the experimental-realism dimension, ranging from artificial to realistic, and the choice of dependent variables (DVs) along the behavioral-measures dimension ranging from hypothetical intention to actual behavior. Importantly, we also map various goals of consumer research along these two dimensions to highlight when it is most appropriate to enhance the realism and behavioral measures of an experiment. Using a number of illustrative examples from research in the extant literature, we specifically highlight how consumer researchers can increase experimental realism and utilize actual-behavior measures in their experiments in order to improve both the fidelity of the research and the likelihood that the research provides insight into real consumer behavior.

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“…We followed Morales, Amir, and Lee () suggestion to employ realistic experimental designs and measure actual behaviors. The authors recommend researchers to “… have participants engage in a behavior that is a proxy for the underlying construct, … have participants sign a petition instead of rating their level of agreement/disagreement with a certain policy” (p. 471).…”

Effects of Green Self-Identity and Cognitive and Affective Involvement on Patronage Intention in Eco-Friendly Apparel Consumption: A Gender Comparison

“…This study measure consumers' intention instead of actual behavior. It has been noticed that there is a green attitude-behavior gap in green behavior [81,82]. Consumers' favorable attitudes may not lead to their actual green behaviors.…”

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