Beware of the Woozle effect and belief perseverance in the PLS-SEM literature!

Jörg Henseler (), Nick Lee, Ellen Roemer, Ildikó Kemény, Taşkın Dirsehan and John W. Cadogan
Additional contact information
Jörg Henseler: University of Twente
Nick Lee: Warwick Business School
Ellen Roemer: Hochschule Ruhr West
Ildikó Kemény: University of Twente
Taşkın Dirsehan: Marmara University, Faculty of Business Administration
John W. Cadogan: University of Leicester

Electronic Commerce Research, 2024, vol. 24, issue 2, No 2, 715-744

Abstract: Abstract Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is a popular method of data analysis in marketing, information systems research, and related fields. Unfortunately, the literature on PLS-SEM contains a number of misstatements that ascribe characteristics to PLS-SEM that it does not possess. In our study, we consider why these misstatements continue to be made and reinforced. We show how inaccuracies, omissions, repetitions of past misconceptions, and the introduction of additional misconceptions lead to the so-called Woozle effect. As an example, we use perhaps the most serious misconception about PLS-SEM namely its alleged suitability for estimating the parameters of reflective measurement models. The Woozle effect is a cumulative process by which falsehoods become established as fact, and the self-correcting mechanisms of science are suspended. Through a literature review, we identify a number of factors that are likely to have contributed to the Woozle effect in the PLS-SEM literature. For the Woozle effect to disappear, researchers need to acknowledge that PLS-SEM, in its current incarnation, is not suitable for scientific work with reflective measurement models.

Keywords: Reflective measurement; Composite model; Measurement error; Consistent PLS; Scientific self-correction; Belief perseverance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10660-024-09849-y Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:elcore:v:24:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s10660-024-09849-y

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/journal/10660

DOI: 10.1007/s10660-024-09849-y

Access Statistics for this article

Electronic Commerce Research is currently edited by James Westland

More articles in Electronic Commerce Research from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().