Consistent Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling Using SmartPLS

This Teacher’s Corner article provides a comprehensive illustration of consistent partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLSc-SEM), a variant of the original PLS-SEM method, which corrects construct correlations for attenuation. The method thereby allows estimating common factor models within a composite-based SEM framework. Our descriptions draw on SmartPLS 4, the most frequently used software for conducting PLS-SEM analyses, illustrating how to set up and estimate the model and interpret the estimates. We further contrast our results with those from other composite-based SEM estimators and from covariance-based SEM using maximum likelihood estimation, as implemented in SmartPLS.