---
name: jcp-topic-selection
description: Use when deciding whether a consumer phenomenon belongs at the Journal of Consumer Psychology (JCP) versus a sibling, and which JCP manuscript type fits, before theory and studies are locked. Sets scope and outlet fit; it does not build the mechanism (jcp-theory-development).
---

# Topic Selection (jcp-topic-selection)

## When to trigger

- You have a consumer phenomenon and are unsure it is *psychological-process* enough for JCP
- The finding feels real but you cannot say what about the **mind of the consumer** is new
- You are choosing between JCP, JCR, JMR, Marketing Science, or Psychological Science
- The result is small and clean and might be a **Research Report** rather than a full article
- A coauthor wants to add field data / strategy framing that may push the paper out of JCP's lane

## What JCP actually wants

JCP publishes **theory-driven research on the psychology of consumers** — how people form judgments, make decisions, feel, get motivated, construct identity, and respond to persuasion in consumption contexts. The decisive question at topic-selection is not "is this about consumers?" but **"is the contribution a psychological process that operates in a consumption setting?"** A topic fits JCP when (a) there is a consumer-relevant outcome, (b) there is a plausible *mental* mechanism behind it, and (c) the mechanism is testable with controlled (mostly experimental) methods. Topics that fail (a) are general psychology; topics that fail (b) are effect-hunting; topics that fail (c) belong in a modeling or interpretive outlet.

## Outlet fit: which sibling, and why not

| If the core contribution is… | Aim at | Why not JCP |
|------------------------------|--------|-------------|
| A consumer psychological **process**, tested experimentally | **JCP** | — |
| Broad consumer theory incl. **interpretive / CCT** meaning-making | JCR | JCP has no interpretive tradition; it is experimental-process |
| A **marketing-strategy / firm-decision** question | Journal of Marketing | JCP is about the consumer's mind, not managerial action |
| A new **measure / method / model** for marketing data | JMR / Marketing Science | JCP rewards process insight, not methodological tooling |
| A general psychological effect with no consumption stake | Psychological Science / JPSP / JEP | JCP needs a *consumer* phenomenon and audience |

The JCP–JCR boundary is the one teams get wrong most. Both run behavioral experiments; the tell is that JCR also embraces interpretive/CCT work and frames contributions as advancing broad **theory of consumption**, while JCP is tightly **psychological-mechanism** in its center of gravity. If your paper's contribution sentence is "we identify the mental process by which X shapes consumer Y," it is a JCP paper.

## Choosing the manuscript type (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准)

- **Research Article** — full multi-study package; ≤50 double-spaced pages including abstract, references, tables, and figures.
- **Research Report** — a tight, important finding; **<4,000 words** excluding abstract, references, tables, and figures. Use when one mechanism is cleanly demonstrated and a 50-page treatment would pad it.
- **Conceptual Review** — integrative review building new theory; ≤50 pages.
- **Research Dialogue** — exchange/commentary format.
Pick the type before writing: a Research Report cannot carry four studies and a Research Article should not be one study stretched thin.

## Checklist

- [ ] The contribution is a **psychological process**, not just a new effect or a new context
- [ ] There is a consumer-relevant outcome AND a plausible mental mechanism AND a way to test it experimentally
- [ ] You can say in one sentence why this is JCP and not JCR / JMR / Psych Science
- [ ] The manuscript type (Article / Report / Review / Dialogue) matches the size of the contribution
- [ ] The phenomenon is theoretically interesting, not only practically useful
- [ ] You are not importing strategy or interpretive framing that pulls the paper out of JCP's lane

## Anti-patterns

- **Context-as-contribution**: "we study this effect in a new product category" with no new process
- **General-psych smuggling**: a cognition/emotion effect with a thin consumer veneer
- **Wrong-type sizing**: a one-study finding submitted as a 50-page article, or four studies crammed into a Research Report
- **Strategy drift**: framing the paper around what the firm should do rather than what the consumer's mind does
- **Sibling blur**: pitching to JCP a paper whose real contribution is interpretive (JCR) or methodological (JMR)

## Output format

```text
【Phenomenon】one-line consumer phenomenon
【Process candidate】the mental mechanism that would be the contribution
【Outlet verdict】JCP / reroute to JCR / JM / JMR / Psych Science (+ reason)
【Manuscript type】Research Article / Research Report / Conceptual Review / Research Dialogue
【Why not the closest sibling】one sentence
【Next skill】jcp-theory-development
```