Alternative Techniques for Assessing Common Method Variance: An Analysis of the Theory of Planned Behavior Research

Each research domain carries the burden of examining the effects of common method variance (CMV) on published research within the domain. To focus on this concern in the context of the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this research empirically compares several methods of detecting the presence of and estimating the level of CMV in the TPB domain. These methods include various implementations of the marker variable technique and versions of the multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) technique. The results show that the marker variable technique provides estimates of CMV and CMV-corrected correlations and paths that are consistent with those produced using the other methods. Next, one implementation of the marker variable technique method is implemented post hoc on a large data set of published TPB studies. This analysis provides strong confirmatory evidence that the effects of CMV do not alter the substantive inferences of study results in prior research. Overall, these findings support putting to rest concerns about the adverse influence of CMV in the TPB domain.