Overcoming the attribute prespecification bias in international marketing research by using non‐attribute‐based correspondence analysis

Abstract

In international marketing research, the researchers are often required to prespecify the salient attributes of a product or service. However, research that prespecifies attributes imposes cultural bias on the results, whereas research that does not specify attributes is open to culturally biased interpretations. The purpose is to present a way of minimizing this bias by using correspondence analysis in a new way that minimizes this source of cultural bias. This is done by using a non‐attribute‐based approach to correspondence analysis. The approach is applied in a real‐life setting to analyze data obtained from a foreign country. Evidence on the validity of the approach is presented and compared with traditional multidimensional scaling. Several applications of this approach in minimizing the attribute prespecification bias in international marketing management are discussed, including image tracking and positioning.