---
name: jcr-contribution-framing
description: Use when writing or sharpening the conceptual contribution of a Journal of Consumer Research (JCR) manuscript and drafting the mandatory 300-word Consumer Relevance and Contribution Statement. Turns results into an explicit theory contribution about consumption; it does not run the studies (jcr-data-analysis).
---

# Contribution Framing (jcr-contribution-framing)

## When to trigger

- Results exist but the "so what for consumer theory" is implicit or thin
- A reviewer says the contribution is incremental or descriptive
- You must write the **Consumer Relevance and Contribution Statement** for submission
- You are unsure whether the paper advances, deepens, or repudiates a theory

## State the conceptual contribution explicitly

JCR's overriding criterion is **advancing understanding of consumer behavior or the conduct of consumer research**. A finding is not a contribution until you say, in plain terms, **which theoretical conversation changes** and **how**. Frame the contribution as one of three moves and name the target theory:

- **Advance** — extend a theory to new conditions, mechanisms, or consumers.
- **Deepen** — specify the process or boundary that prior accounts left vague.
- **Repudiate** — show a widely held assumption about consumption is wrong.

Make the claim **conceptual**, not merely empirical: a robust effect with no theory advance reads as a technical report. Both the introduction and the discussion should carry an explicit "what we now understand about consumers that we did not before" sentence, and the discussion should spell out implications for the base discipline(s) — psychology, anthropology, sociology, or economics.

## The mandatory Consumer Relevance and Contribution Statement (≤300 words)

New submissions require a **Consumer Relevance and Contribution Statement of up to 300 words** — a JCR-specific gate, **distinct from the 200-word abstract**. It forces you to articulate, separately from the abstract:

- **Why the work matters to consumers** — the real consumption stakes, in accessible language.
- **How it contributes** — the conceptual advance to consumer research, legible to an interdisciplinary readership.

Draft it as a standalone argument, not a paraphrase of the abstract. Avoid jargon that fences off readers from other disciplines; an experimentalist and a CCT scholar should both grasp the stakes.

## Checklist

- [ ] Contribution named as advance / deepen / repudiate, with the target theory
- [ ] Contribution is conceptual, not just "a new effect/context"
- [ ] Intro and discussion each contain an explicit contribution sentence
- [ ] Implications for the base discipline(s) are stated
- [ ] A ≤300-word Consumer Relevance and Contribution Statement is drafted, distinct from the abstract
- [ ] The statement is legible across psychology, anthropology, sociology, economics

## Anti-patterns

- "We document a new effect" with no theory move.
- A contribution statement that simply restates the abstract.
- Implications written only for one subfield of an interdisciplinary journal.
- Burying the contribution in the discussion's final paragraph.
- Overclaiming managerial relevance in place of a consumer-theory advance.

## Output format

```
【Move】advance / deepen / repudiate → target theory
【Contribution sentence】one line for intro and discussion
【Base-discipline implications】psych / anthro-soc / econ
【Consumer Relevance & Contribution Statement】≤300 words, distinct from abstract: drafted?
【Interdisciplinary legibility】pass / fix
【Next step】jcr-tables-figures or jcr-writing-style
```