Journal of Consumer Research Workflow (jcr-workflow)

Overview

This is the router. It does not replace any specialized skill; it tells you which jcr- skill to use right now* for your JCR manuscript.

Default assumption: unless the user says otherwise, treat the target as JCR — the multi-disciplinary flagship of consumer behavior research, founded 1974 and published by Oxford University Press for Journal of Consumer Research, Inc. JCR's overriding criterion is advancing understanding of consumer behavior or the conduct of consumer research. It is explicitly interdisciplinary — psychology, anthropology, sociology, economics, marketing, statistics, communication — and its identity is institutionalized by a Policy Board of ~11 sponsoring professional societies. The non-negotiable bar is a clear conceptual contribution that advances, deepens, or repudiates existing theory about consumption, backed by appropriate empirical evidence. Two flagship genres coexist under one masthead: rigorous multi-study behavioral experiments and interpretive Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) work — JCR is one of the few top journals where ethnography and lab experiments compete on equal footing.

Editorial team changes: Oleg Urminsky (Chicago Booth) is Editor in Chief for the term Jan 1, 2025 – Dec 31, 2028; the active co-editor roster is time-sensitive (待核实) — verify the current masthead at consumerresearcher.com. As of Jan 1, 2025 JCR also considers Registered Reports and Brief Commentaries beyond the standard empirical paper.

When to trigger

• "What should I do next?" with a half-built JCR manuscript
• You have a robust effect but no clear conceptual story about consumption
• A reviewer/editor pushes on "contribution to consumer theory" and you are unsure which stage is the real bottleneck
• You received a JCR decision letter (R&R or reject) and need to switch into response mode
• You keep bouncing between theory, studies, and writing without a plan

Routing table

Default order

1. jcr-topic-selection — lock a consumer-behavior question with JCR fit
2. jcr-theory-development — build the psychological/sociocultural mechanism
3. jcr-literature-positioning — join the consumer-research conversation across disciplines
4. jcr-methods — choose experiments vs. CCT vs. mixed; design multi-study evidence
5. jcr-data-analysis — process evidence, mediation/moderation, interpretive trustworthiness
6. jcr-contribution-framing — write the conceptual contribution + Consumer Relevance Statement
7. jcr-tables-figures — finalize exhibits (study tables, process figures, interaction plots)
8. jcr-writing-style — front-load the consumer insight; Chicago house style
9. jcr-submission — ScholarOne preflight, anonymization, Data Collection Statement
10. jcr-review-process — set expectations for the developmental, multi-round process
11. jcr-rebuttal — after an R&R, plan revisions then draft the response letter

jcr-tables-figures and jcr-writing-style are late-stage polish. Do not invoke them while the conceptual contribution or process story is still unsettled.

Decision shortcuts

• "I have a cool effect but no theory" → jcr-topic-selection then jcr-theory-development
• "My intro says 'no one has studied X'" (gap-spotting) → jcr-literature-positioning
• "Reviewers will want process evidence" → jcr-data-analysis (mediation/moderation)
• "Is this an experiments paper or a CCT paper?" → jcr-methods
• "Reviewer says contribution is incremental" → jcr-contribution-framing
• "Submitting next week" → jcr-submission (60-page cap, Data Collection Statement)
• "Got an R&R" → jcr-review-process then jcr-rebuttal

Difference vs. JM / JCP / JMR stacks

• JCR: the conceptual, multi-disciplinary flagship of consumer behavior; bar is a theory contribution about consumption; experiments and CCT compete on equal footing; OUP; 60-double-spaced-page cap; ScholarOne at mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jconres.
• JCP (Journal of Consumer Psychology): psychology-focused, typically tighter behavioral process work.
• JMR / JM (AMA journals): broader marketing scope including modeling, strategy, and managerial relevance, not exclusively consumer behavior.

If your paper is a managerial-strategy or analytical-modeling marketing paper with no real consumer-theory advance, JCR is the wrong venue.

Stage tracker (fill and re-run the router)

Keep this manifest at the top of your working notes; update the status column after each session and let the first todo row decide the next skill.

JCR MANUSCRIPT — stage tracker
question   : [one-sentence consumer-behavior question]
genre      : experiments / CCT / mixed
target     : JCR (vs JCP / JMR / JM)  fit=[yes/borderline/no]

stage                     status        next skill
------------------------  ------------  --------------------------
topic & fit               [done]        jcr-topic-selection
theory / mechanism        [in-progress] jcr-theory-development
literature positioning    [todo]        jcr-literature-positioning
methods (studies/CCT)     [todo]        jcr-methods
data / process evidence   [todo]        jcr-data-analysis
contribution + CRS        [todo]        jcr-contribution-framing
tables & figures          [todo]        jcr-tables-figures   (late)
writing style             [todo]        jcr-writing-style    (late)
submission preflight      [todo]        jcr-submission
decision / R&R            [—]           jcr-review-process → jcr-rebuttal

rule: never mark "contribution + CRS" done while theory is in-progress.

Anti-patterns

• Do not skip jcr-theory-development — JCR rejects atheoretical "interesting effects."
• Do not let jcr-tables-figures beautify exhibits before the conceptual contribution is settled.
• Do not treat the Consumer Relevance and Contribution Statement as an afterthought — it is a JCR-specific gate handled in jcr-contribution-framing / jcr-submission.
• Do not let jcr-writing-style substitute polish for a real contribution to consumer theory.