Difference between control variables and moderating variables

Questions about the implementation and application of the PLS-SEM method, that are not related to the usage of the SmartPLS software.
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Palak
PLS Junior User
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Joined: Thu Oct 05, 2023 12:54 pm
Real name and title: Ms. Palak Mittal

Difference between control variables and moderating variables

Post by Palak »

I am using demographic variables such as age, gender, income, area in my study. According to me these are moderators but on reading various research papers related to Smart PlS, I got to know that these are used as control variables. I can't find out what is the difference between the two and which one should I use?
jmbecker
SmartPLS Developer
Posts: 1284
Joined: Tue Mar 28, 2006 11:09 am
Real name and title: Dr. Jan-Michael Becker

Re: Difference between control variables and moderating variables

Post by jmbecker »

A moderator variable Z influence the strength of a relationship between two variables X and Y.
The estimated effect of X on Y is conditional on Z (being equal to zero).
For example, income may be a moderator of the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty: with higher (lower) income the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty might be stronger (weaker).

A control variable Z should ensure that the relationships between X and Y is not influenced by the variation in the control variable Z.
In other words, it helps researchers rule out the possibility that changes in the dependent variable Y are due to changes in the control variable Z rather than the independent variable X.
The estimated effect of X on Y is the unconditional effect of keeping Z constant at any value.
For example, the estimated effect of satisfaction on loyalty for people with equal income.
Dr. Jan-Michael Becker, BI Norwegian Business School, SmartPLS Developer
Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jan_Michael_Becker
GoogleScholar: http://scholar.google.de/citations?user ... AAAJ&hl=de
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