I'm reading the answer to this question: "Moderation" versus "interaction"?
The first answer is
"The way to think about what an interaction is, is that if you were to
explain your findings to someone you would use the word 'depends'. I
will make up a story using your variables (I have no way of knowing if
this is accurate or even plausible): Lets say someone asks you, "if
people research a product, do they purchase it?" You might respond,
"Well, it depends. For men, if they research a product, they typically
end up buying one, but women enjoy looking at and thinking about
products for its own sake; often, a woman will research a product, but
have no intention of buying it. So, the relationship between
researching a product and buying that product depends on sex." In this
story, there is an interaction between product research and sex, or
sex moderates the relationship between research and purchasing.
(Again, I don't know if this story is remotely correct, and I hope no
one is offended by it. I only use men and women because that's in the
question. I don't mean to push any stereotypes.)"
I'm wondering whether the moderator and predictor are interchangeable? Can we say the search moderates the relationship between sex and purchasing?
If they are interchangeable, I'm very confused about the picture like this (using the software WarpPLS):
(Source: http://www.icommercecentral.com/open-access/the-moderating-role-of-risk-security-and-trust-applied-to-thetam-model-in-the-offer-of-banking-financial-services-in-canada.php?aid=37979)
Why in this picture, they put Risk as moderator to that two arrows? Why not the other way around? Is that marketing research is more about making up stories rather than "show me the data"?
Best Answer
Moderation is interaction. In the answer you quoted, not only does sex moderate the relationship between research and purchasing, but research moderates the relationship between sex and purchasing.
The diagram appears to not be one of moderation but mediation.