A Facet Metatheoretical Approach to Advance, Consumer Behavior Knowledge

This paper provides an overview of Facet Theory, a systematic approach to facilitate theory construction, research design, and data analysis for complex studies, that is appropriate to marketing theories and particularly consumer behavior. In Facet Theory, the definition of the behavioral domain facilitates the rationale for hypothesizing structural relationships among variables employed in a research. Examples are shown from various areas to illustrate the methods and results of structural analysis with Smallest Space Analysis (SSA), including the addition of external variables, Discrimination Coefficient (DISCO), and Partial Order Scalogram Analysis (POSA). The use of Facet Theory and conceptual tools like "mapping sentence" and "universe of content", is shown to provide new insights into existing consumer data, it allows for the diagnosis and discrimination of consumers behavioral traits and makes the generalizability and replication of findings easier.