multiple regression analysis with dummy variable is a popular technique used for exploring asymmetries in the relationship between the performance of particular product/service attributes and overall customer satisfaction(OCS) as revealed by table 1 half of available peer-reviewed studies using this technique were published in journals related to travel and tourism (i.e.seven out of 14) and even 11 out of 14 studies in jounals with a primary focus on service industries
a review of these studies reveals,however,a widespread misuse of dummy regression which is very likely to result in misleading implications in theory and model building and in guiding managerial action -i.e. the use of standardized weights as measures of effect instead of unstandardized ones.five out of 14 studies do not mention which type of weight was used,whereas only alegre and garau(2011)and mikulic and prebezac(2011) explicitly report use of the unproblematic(unstandardized)type this brief note thus aims to raise awareness about this problem and to explain why standardized weights should generally be avoided when analyzing variable effect sizes with dummy regression.in elaborating the problem,the methodological foundations of dummy regression in asymmetry assessments are first briefly discussed,followed by an illustrative case example that empirically demonstrates the problem and its implications.