forum.smartpls.com

I am using SmartPLS3 and the output for indirect and total effects give the same numbers. Is this a software error? I am asking the question because the total effect should be the sum of direct and indirect effects. But having the same number for indirect and total effects means that direct effect are not taken into account. Am I right?

If you only have direct effects in your model, then they are the same otherwise you should have different results.
There is no known problem with this feature and it is working on many different models for a long time. If you have doubts, please send your model and a data example to our support team: http://support.smartpls.com/open.php

See later chapters of Cepeda et al. (2018) for testing multiple of the mediating effect.

Also, the book on PLS-SEM includes a chapter on mediation: Hair, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2017). A Primer on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. 2nd Ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Best
Christian