Guidelines for Meta‐Analytic Structural Equation Modeling: Steps, Resources, and Illustrations

Abstract

The goal of science is to build incremental, structured, and reliable knowledge over time. Yet, many strands of marketing and related disciplines exhibit symptoms of cumulative stagnation, including lack of replicability and weak theoretical integration. Existing remedies such as replication studies, multistudy investigations, and open science practices offer safeguards for future research, but they are not designed to reconcile past evidence now under scrutiny. Meta‐analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) offers a complementary route to improving the cumulative character of marketing research by aggregating past fragmented evidence into a multivariate test of an overarching theory. Given that such examination occurs at the cumulative level, MASEM offers higher‐level contributions by exposing structural inconsistencies, adjudicating contested mechanisms, and revealing obscured mediating mechanisms across entire literature streams. Uptake, however, remains limited as its implementation requires a long chain of technical decisions that are rarely reported in a reproducible form. Moreover, methodological recommendations remain fragmented across studies, leaving researchers to integrate the overall workflow on their own. This article develops an integrated set of guidelines for conducting MASEM that address these barriers in three important ways. First, the guidelines provide a six‐step methodological guide that integrates fragmented methodological knowledge into a coherent workflow. Second, the guide is operationalized through an empirical illustration, providing a practical application of the six steps. Third, the guidelines are accompanied by modular open resources to facilitate accessible MASEM implementation. In sum, the guidelines support a more rigorous and widespread application of MASEM.