On the Selection and Use of Implicit Measures in Marketing Research: A Utilitarian Taxonomy

Abstract

The idea that a significant portion of what consumers do, feel, and think is driven by automatic (or “implicit”) cognitive processes has sparked a wave of interest in the development of assessment tools that (attempt to) capture cognitive processes under automaticity conditions (also known as “implicit measures”). However, as more and more implicit measures are developed, it is becoming increasingly difficult for consumer scientists and marketing professionals to select the most appropriate tool for a specific research question. We therefore present a systematic overview of the criteria that can be used to evaluate and compare different implicit measures, including their structural characteristics, the extent to which (and the way in which) they qualify as “implicit,” as well as more practical considerations such as ease of implementation and the user experience of the respondents. As an example, we apply these criteria to four implicit measures that are (or have the potential to become) popular in marketing research (i.e., the implicit association test, the evaluative priming task, the affect misattribution procedure, and the propositional evaluation paradigm).

Citation

Slabbinck, H. and Spruyt, A. (2022), "On the Selection and Use of Implicit Measures in Marketing Research: A Utilitarian Taxonomy", Baumgartner, H. and Weijters, B. (Ed.) Measurement in Marketing (Review of Marketing Research, Vol. 19), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 171-210. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1548-643520220000019010