Mediation Analysis

Abstract

Mediation occurs when a third variable, referred to as a mediator construct, intervenes between two other directly related constructs. More precisely, a change in the exogenous construct results in a change of the mediator construct, which in turn changes the endogenous construct. The mediator analysis evaluates the factors related to the cause–effect relationship between an exogenous construct and an endogenous construct. In the simplest form, the analysis considers only one mediator construct, but the path model can also include multiple mediating constructs simultaneously, as well as moderated mediation. We illustrate mediation analysis in PLS-SEM by using the SEMinR package and the corporate reputation model as an example.