The Use of the Think Aloud Verbal Protocol for Tracking Processes in Research on the Consumer Decision-Making

Abstract

This paper aims to illustrate the use and encourage a reflection about the adoption of the think-aloud protocol for process tracing in research about consumer decision-making.   Unlike input-output methods, whose use is consolidated in experimental research on consumer behavior, the methods used for process tracing, among them the verbal protocol think aloud, emphasize the testing of models and hypotheses by means of procedural data. Defined as the concurrent and unstructured method of verbal data collection performed during the execution of a task, the think aloud protocol, which the procedure consists of asking respondents to voice over their thoughts without interpreting them, is advocated by judgment and decision making researchers as an important source of research data on individual decision making.  As proposed by the overall objective, the paper presents a description of procedures needed to operationalize the think aloud method for process tracing and details two studies that used verbal protocols to investigate consumer behavior published in marketing journals.