Guidelines for Theory Selection: The IMPACT Framework

ABSTRACT

Though the role of adopting an appropriate theory in shaping the publishability and impact of research has long been recognized, psychology and marketing researchers lack specific guidance on how to choose a theory to frame their work. Addressing this gap in the literature, this article proposes a set of guidelines for the selection of relevant macro‐foundational theory to guide research projects addressing specific meso‐ or micro‐foundational theoretical entities (e.g., constructs or individual decision‐making) for research impact. Specifically, we develop a set of six guidelines to select an appropriate macro‐foundational theory for research impact, including
Interestingness
,
Matching
,
Parsimony
,
Applicability
,
Conceptual rigor
, and
Testability
(collectively abbreviated as the “IMPACT” guidelines). We next depict the proposed guidelines in an organizing framework that specifies
Matching
, the theoretical
co
‐infusion of the studied micro‐ or meso‐foundational theoretical entity and the chosen macro‐foundational theory, as the central action item for researchers to shape the impact of their work. Researchers are then advised to use the five remaining guidelines to assess the quality of their proposed
Matching
for research impact. We conclude by discussing pertinent implications that arise from our analyses (e.g., to ensure
Interestingness
, we recommend researchers to select a macro‐foundational theory that refutes (vs. affirms) prior findings).