A theory-based approach for improving demand artifact assessment in advertising experiments

Although demand artifacts are a widely acknowledged concern among experimental researchers, no substantive research directed expressly at this problem has evolved in the advertising literature. In the present study, Rosenthal and Rosnow's theorizing about demand artifacts is used to identify two key mediators of demand bias in the laboratory setting: receptivity and motivation. A pilot study and two experiments are reported in operationalizing these mediators and in testing their utility in the detection of demand bias. The empirical findings support Rosenthal and Rosnow's theorizing about the two mediators of demand bias, suggesting that both must be explicitly considered for controlling the problem. Implications for applying appropriate postexperimental inquiries in advertising research are discussed.