PLS-MGA: A non-parametric approach to partial least squares-based multi-group analysis

Abstract

This paper adds to an often applied extension of Partial Least Squares (PLS) path modeling, namely the comparison of PLS estimates across subpopulations, also known as multi-group analysis. Existing PLS-based approaches to multi-group analysis have the shortcoming that they rely on distributional assumptions. This paper develops a non-parametric PLS-based approach to multi-group analysis: PLS-MGA. Both the existing approaches and the new approach are applied to a marketing example of customer switching behavior in a liberalized electricity market. This example provides first evidence of favorable operation characteristics of PLS-MGA. © 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.