All universities, business schools, companies and institutions active in the field of Marketing Trends are encouraged to nominate candidates for the award. Self-applications will not be considered. Information about the nominations, investigations, and opinions concerning the award is kept secret.
Predictive Model Comparison and Selectionin Marketing Research Using PLS-SEM
Thursday, January 21, 2027 | 15:00 – 18:30 Isola San Servolo, Venice (Italy)
Presenter: Prof. Dr. Christian M. Ringle (Hamburg University of Technology, Germany, and James Cool University, Australia)
1 Overview
Session 1 (90 minutes):
Overview of newest PLS-SEM advances and their usefulness for researchers and practitioners
Predictive model assessment
Break (30 minutes)
Session 2 (90 minutes):
Alternative models and results comparison (e.g., information criteria and Akaike weights)
Predictive model selection (e.g., using the CVPAT)
2 Background
Models simplify reality to reveal key relationships. While they can’t capture all its complexity, their strength lies in clarity and focus. While highlighting meaningful relationships, no single model fully explains a phenomenon. Exploring theoretically plausible alternative models for explaining the phenomenon under study is therefore a crucial step in advancing scientific knowledge in that it promotes transparency and challenges the overreliance on any one framework.
Alternative models typically emerge when considering theories in new contexts with unique variables and effects, or when researchers build conceptual bridges across related streams of inquiry to provide a holistic understanding of the phenomenon. Given a set of alternative models, researchers then try to identify the model that best approximates the data generation process underlying the phenomenon under study. Model selection may focus on explanation and confirmation of theoretical models, on their predictive power, or on an integrated combination of both. The choice depends fundamentally on the specific goals of the research, and understanding this purpose is crucial for appropriate model evaluation and justification. The research and model selection process involves numerous decisions made by researchers, informed by theory, methods, data, and results.
3 Workshop set-up and goals
This workshop focuses on predictive model assess, comparison, and selection. In marketing research, partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is a particular useful method for this purpose. After an introduction and overview of newest advances in PLS-SEM, this special conference workshops focuses on predictive model assessment using PLSpredict and the cross-validated predictive ability test (CVPAT). On these grounds, we will discuss on how to theoretically establish alternative model and compare their model estimation results. For the predictive model comparison and selection, information criteria and the CVPAT represent useful methods, which we will introduce dan discuss.
All concepts will be illustrated “hands-on,” using a case study and the broadly applied statistical software SmartPLS 4 software. The SmartPLS 4 software output diagnostics and interpretation of the results will be covered. Potential obstacles and “rules-of-thumb” to ensure appropriate application and interpretation of the techniques will be addressed.
4 Who should attend
Researchers wishing to learn more about the predictive estimation and assessment of alternative, their results comparison, and predictive model selection using the PLS-SEM method via the SmartPLS 4 software for their top-tier journal publications.
5 Teaching resources
Certificate of attendance.
Comprehensive lecture slides will be provided to all participants
Bring your laptop computer and a 2 or 3-way power extension lead.
Download and install the SmartPLS 4 software from https://www.smartpls.com/ before attending the workshop. Participants will receive further instructions and a two-month SmartPLS 4 software license key (shortly before the workshop starts).
6 Instructor and a short bio
Christian M. Ringle is a Chaired Professor of Management and Decision Sciences at the Hamburg University of Technology (Germany), and an Adjunct Professor at the James Cook University (Australia). His research, which has been cited more than 400,000 times (Google Scholar), focuses on management and marketing topics, method development, business analytics, machine learning, and the application of business research methods to decision making. Christian’s contributions have been published in journals such as Industrial Marketing Management, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Information Systems Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, MIS Quarterly, and Organizational Research Methods. Since 2018, Christian has been included in the Clarivate Analytics’ Highly Researchers list. He is a co-founder and co-developer of SmartPLS (https://www.smartpls.com), a statistical software with a graphical user interface. More information: https://www.tuhh.de/mds/team/prof-dr-c-m-ringle.html
7 Key literature
Prior exposure to PLS-SEM is recommended but not required. In any case, we recommend the following PLS-SEM literature:
Sarstedt, M., Ringle, C. M., & Hair, J. F. (2025). Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. In C. Homburg, M. Klarmann, & A. E. Vomberg (Eds.), Handbook of Market Research (pp. 1-56). Cham: Springer.
Hair, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2027). A Primer on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) (4 ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
During 1/2 day, the Paper Writing Workshop provides personalized guidance on how to write impactful academic papers and increase papers’ publication chances.
This workshop is for anyone wanting to improve their researchand their writing and increase their chances of being published in highly ranked marketing journals. It will cover the process of writing up work for publication, including the major questions that review teams consider. The process of publication is difficult, but there are steps researchers can take to increase the chances of getting an acceptance. This workshop will cover these steps in detail, providing best practice examples and in-depth discussion.
Attendees will leave with a better understanding of the publication process, and how to write their work for maximum impact.
Fee included in conference registration costs, but the participants must register specifically for the workshop via the conference registration page.
Future Development of Marketing in Theory and Practice
Marketing management—across all sectors—faces significant challenges not only due to the highly dynamic technological changes occurring in every field, particularly regarding AI applications, but also because of their interplay with profound shifts in the political-legal, socio-cultural, economic, and ecological environments. The future landscape of markets and societies depends crucially on how the associated opportunities and risks are managed. Beyond marketing practice, the field of marketing scholarship is also specifically called upon to continually forge new paths in research, education, and the practical transfer of knowledge.
The “Marketing Trends Radar Workshop 2027” aims to provide a platform for dialogue between academics and practitioners, enabling them to exchange views on their initiatives regarding relevant future trends and to jointly highlight key trends and necessary changes in marketing academia and practice. At the same time, the workshop seeks to bring together individual initiatives already launched by academic marketing associations across various European countries to address the future of marketing.
In the run-up to the workshop, colleagues from across Europe will share their ongoing dialogue initiatives and existing hypotheses regarding the evolution of marketing in academia and practice online. During the workshop, these initiatives and future-oriented hypotheses will then be discussed in depth and ultimately synthesized to highlight key insights.
The workshop is chaired by Prof. Klaus-Peter Wiedmann, Leibniz University Hannover (Germany).
However, additional colleagues from various countries are also to be involved in the organization and moderation.
Prof. Paola Signori (University of Verona), who currently holds the chair of the Italian Marketing Association, has already agreed to serve as the workshop’s co-chair.
Once the team is fully established, we will provide further details regarding the process for information exchange leading up to the conference. Those interested may contact me directly in the meantime at wiedmann@m2.uni-hannover.de
Fee included in conference registration costs, but the participants must register specifically for the workshop via the conference registration page.
The Poster Fair is an important event of the conference programme. It is an opportunity to meet other researchers who share similar interests, share ideas and get credit for resumé -a true win-win!-. This format is ideal for meeting colleagues, discussing work with other conference delegates and heightening the participants’ career profile.
A separate room of the conference is dedicated to the poster sessions.
Please note that the participants should print their posters themselves and bring them to the conference for display. The posters should be A1 (59,4cm x 84,1 cm) format and printed on a single side.
The posters should also be readable in A4 format in order to be included in the conference proceedings.
Over the past 15 years, the International Marketing Trends Conference has welcomed researchers and professionals from more than 72 countries to investigate and discuss the trends in Marketing and Marketing Strategies.
In the recent years, a number of specific topics of the conference have appeared to gain a high level of interest and generate a large amount of publications. The idea of creating dedicated symposiums has appeared as a natural move.
ACCI Symposium in Turin in 2016;
LUXY Symposium in London in 2017;
HEALTHY Symposium in Paris in 2019.
For further information, do not hesitate to get in touch with the organizing committee by telephone on +33.1.45.03.05.35 or by e-mail at info@team-imtc.com.
Each year, the International Marketing Trends Conference grants two awards: the International Marketing Trends Award and the Managerial Impact Award.
The International Marketing Trends Award is an international award to honour researchers for their overall achievements in the fields of Marketing Trends. The purpose of the Marketing Trends Award is to recognize and reward an outstanding lifetime contribution to the Marketing Trends in the areas of research, education or strategy, and encourage cross-country and multi-cultural research on the major changes in marketing paradigms and new fields of innovative research in all the aspects of marketing.
The Managerial Impact Award is an international award to honour researchers for the managerial implications developed in their research work.
The International Marketing Trends Award Committee
Pr. Alberto PASTORE, Università di Roma La Sapienza
Pr. Julio JIMÉNEZ, Universidad Zaragoza
Pr. Julien SCHMITT, ESCP Business School – Paris Campus
Pr. Klaus-Peter WIEDMANN, Leibniz Universität Hannover
The International Marketing Trends Award Committee
Pr. Alberto PASTORE, Università di Roma La Sapienza
Pr. Michael HAENLEIN, ESCP Business School – Paris Campus
Nomination for the awards
All universities, business schools, companies and institutions active in the field of Marketing Trends are encouraged to nominate candidates for the awards. Self-applications will not be considered. Information about the nominations, investigations, and opinions concerning the award is kept secret.
