Construal-Level Based Biases in Common Marketing Research Techniques: Conjoint Analysis and Perceptual Mapping

This study investigates the implications of Construal-level Theory on two common marketing research techniques such as conjoint analysis and perceptual mapping. Construal-level theory posits that individuals tend to evaluate the same object differently as a function of temporal distance. Despite the great relevance gained by Construal-level Theory in the marketing literature as the theoretical foundation for the description of many intertemporal consumer behaviors, its methodological consequences have been neglected so far. We advance and empirically demonstrate that responses to conjoint analysis and perceptual mapping studies vary according to respondents’ temporal perspective. Methodological and managerial implications of this potential source of bias are discussed.