Projective Methods: Applications in Contemporary Marketing and Consumerism Research.

The application of projective techniques in scholarly research on marketing issues, consumer preferences, and human resource management has a long history. Based on perennial criticism of projective measures in the past, it would be of interest whether projective methods continue to attract research attention and academic scrutiny across the disciplines of marketing, consumerism, and management. Based on a bibliographic strategy, the current study identified contemporary research articles where projective tests were the main methodology in studies in these business-related areas. From an original pool of over 75 peer-reviewed articles, the author identified the key studies (n=10) that supported the continued reliance on projective methods in scholarly efforts across these sub-fields. Overall, nearly all of the investigations found some degree of utility regarding projective tests as part of the research design. Thus, despite methodological critiques, projective measures are considered valid research tools across contemporary business-related areas of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]