The author examines the reliability and validity of measures of organizational characteristics used in previous marketing studies in the areas of strategic planning and distribution channels. Key informants in 506 wholesale-distribution companies provided reports on (1) characteristics of the firm's product portfolio and (2) characteristics of the firm's power-dependence relations with its major suppliers and customers. In contrast to previous investigations, which sampled only a single informant per unit of analysis, data were collected from multiple informants in each firm. Results showed that informant reports often achieved convergent and discriminant validity when variance due to methods factors was explicitly modeled. However, partitioning of variance according to trait, method, and random error components showed that informant reports often exhibited less than 50% variance attributable to the trait factor under investigation. Implications of the findings are discussed for those marketing studies which focus on organizations or organizational subunits as the unit of analysis.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BagozziRichard P. (1980), Causal Models in Marketing. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
2.
BlauPeter and SchoenherrRichard (1971), The Structure of Organizations. New York: Basic Books.
3.
BonomaThomas, BagozziRichard P., and ZaltmanGerald (1978), “The Dyadic Paradigm in Marketing Thought,” in Organizational Buying Behavior, BonomaT. and ZaltmanG., eds. Chicago: American Marketing Association.
4.
BrandtWilliam K. and HulbertJames M. (1975), “Organizational Structure and Marketing Strategy in the Multinational Subsidiary,”Proceedings of the American Marketing Association, 37 (Spring-Fall), 320–25.
5.
BrandtWilliam K. and HulbertJames M. (1976), “Patterns of Communications in the Multinational Corporation: An Empirical Study,”Journal of International Business Studies, 7 (Spring) 57–64.
6.
BrandtWilliam K. and HulbertJames M. (1977), “Headquarters Guidance in Marketing Strategy in the Multinational Subsidiary,”Columbia Journal of World Business, 12 (Winter), 7–14.
7.
BucklinLouis P. (1966), A Theory of Distribution Channel Structure. Berkeley: Institute of Business and Economic Research.
8.
BuzzellRobert D., GaleBradley, and SultanRobert (1975), “Market Share—A Key to Profitability,”Harvard Business Review, 53 (January–February), 97–106.
9.
CampbellDonald T. (1960), “Recommendations for APA Test Standards Regarding Construct, Trait, or Discriminant Validity,”American Psychologist, 15, 546–53.
10.
CampbellDonald T. and FiskeDonald W. (1959), “Convergent and Discriminant Validation by the Multitrait-Multimethod Matrix,”Psychological Bulletin, 56, 81–105.
11.
DavisHarry (1971), “Measurement of Husband-Wife Influence in Consumer Purchase Decisions,”Journal of Marketing Research, 8 (August), 305–12.
12.
DavisHarry, DouglasSusan P., and SilkAlvin (1980), “A Cross National Comparison of the Reliability of Selected Measurements from Consumer Surveys,”working paper, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
13.
DayGeorge (1977), “Diagnosing the Product Portfolio,”Journal of Marketing, 41 (July), 29–38.
14.
El-AnsaryAdel and SternLouis W. (1972), “Power Measurement in the Distribution Channel,”Journal of Marketing Research, 9 (February), 47–52.
15.
EtgarMichael (1974), “An Empirical Analysis of the Motivations for the Development of Centrally Controlled Vertical Marketing Systems: The Case of the Property and Casualty Insurance Industry,” Ph.D. thesis, University of California at Berkeley.
16.
EtgarMichael (1976a), “The Effect of Administrative Control on the Efficiency of Vertical Marketing Systems,”Journal of Marketing Research, 13 (February), 12–24.
17.
EtgarMichael (1976b), “Channel Domination and Countervailing Power in Distributive Channels,”Journal of Marketing Research, 13 (August) 25–62.
18.
EtgarMichael (1977), “Channel Environment and Channel Leadership,”Journal of Marketing Research, 14 (February), 69–76.
19.
EtgarMichael (1978), “Selection of an Effective Channel Control Mix,”Journal of Marketing, 42 (July), 53–8.
20.
FarrisPaul W. and BuzzellRobert D. (1979), “Why Advertising and Promotional Costs Vary: Some Cross Sectional Analyses,”Journal of Marketing, 43 (Fall), 112–22.
21.
HoustonMichael and SudmanSeymour (1975), “A Methodological Assessment of the Use of Key Informants,”Social Science Research, 4, 151–64.
22.
HuntShelby and NevinJohn (1974), “Power in a Channel of Distribution: Sources and Consequences,”Journal of Marketing Research, 11 (May), 186–93.
23.
JöreskogKarl (1971), “Statistical Analysis of Congeneric Tests,”Psychometrika, 36, 109–33.
24.
JöreskogKarl (1974), “Analyzing Psychological Data by Structural Analysis of Covariance Matrices,” in AtkinsonR. C., eds. San Francisco: Freeman, 1–56.
25.
JöreskogKarl and DagSörbom (1978), LISREL: Analysis of Linear Structural Relationships by Method of Maximum Likelihood. Chicago: National Educational Resources.
26.
KenneyDavid (1976), “An Empirical Application of Confirmatory Factor Analysis to the Multitrait-Multimethod Matrix,”Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 12, 247–52.
27.
LawleyD. N. and MaxwellA. E. (1971), Factor Analysis as a Statistical Method. London: Butterworth.
28.
LawtonLeigh and ParasuramanA. (1980), “The Impact of the Marketing Concept on New Product Planning,”Journal of Marketing, 44 (Winter), 19–25.
29.
LazarsfeldPaul and MenzelHerbert (1969), “On the Relationship Between Individual and Collective Properties,” in Complex Organizations: A Sociological Reader, EtzioniA., ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc.
30.
LoflandJohn (1971), Analyzing Social Settings. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
31.
LuschRobert (1976), “Sources of Power: Their Impact on Intrachannel Conflict,”Journal of Marketing Research, 13 (November), 382–90.
32.
McClintockCharles C., BrannenDiane, and StevenMaynard-Moody (1979), “Applying the Logic of Sample Surveys to Qualitative Case Studies: The Case Cluster Method,”Administrative Science Quarterly, 24, 613–29.
33.
McGranahanDavid (1976), “Correcting for Informant Bias,”American Sociological Review, 4, 176–8.
34.
MolnarJoseph J. and RogersDavid I. (1979), “A Comparative model of Inter-Organizational Conflict,”Administrative Science Quarterly, 24, 406–25.
35.
OlssonUlf (1979), “Maximum Likelihood Estimation of the Polychoric Correlation Coefficient,”Psychometrika, 44, 443–59.
36.
PatchenMarvin (1963), “Alternative Questionnaire Approaches to the Measurement of Influence in Organizations,”American Journal of Sociology, 69, 41–52.
37.
PenningsJohannes (1973), “Measures of Organizational Structure: A Methodological Note,”American Journal of Sociology, 79, 686–704.
38.
PfefferJeffrey and SalancikGerald (1978), The External Control of Organizations: A Resource Dependence Perspective. New York: Harper and Row.
39.
PhillipsLynn W. (1980), “On Studying Collective Behavior: Methodological Issues in the Use of Key Informants,” unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Northwestern University.
40.
PhillipsLynn W. and BagozziRichard P. (1981), “On Measuring Organizational Properties,”working paper, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
41.
ProvanKeith, BeyerJanice, and KrytboschCarlos (1980), “Environmental Linkages and Power in Resource-Dependence Relations Between Organizations,”Administrative Science Quarterly, 25, 200–25.
42.
RosenbergLarry and SternLouis W. (1971), “Conflict Measurement in the Distribution Channel,”Journal of Marketing Research, 8 (November), 437–42.
43.
SchoefflerSidney, BuzzellRobert D., and HeanyDonald F. (1974), “Impact of Strategic Planning on Profit Performance,”Harvard Business Review, 52 (March-April), 137–45.
44.
SeidlerJohn (1974), “On Using Informants: A Technique for Collecting Quantitative Data and Controlling for Measurement Error in Organization Analysis,”American Sociological Review, 39, 816–31.
45.
SilkAlvin and KalwaniManohar (1980), “Measuring Influence in Organizational Purchase Decisions,”working paper, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
46.
SpekmanRobert (1977), “A Contingency Approach to Power Relationships Within the Industrial Buying Task Group,” unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Northwestern University.
47.
SternLouis W. and AdelEl-Ansary (1977), Marketing Channels. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc.
48.
SternLouis W. and ReveTorger (1980), “Distribution Channels as Political Economies: A Framework for Comparative Analysis,”Journal of Marketing, 44 (Summer) 52–64.
49.
WebbEugene J. and WeickKarl (1979), “Unobtrusive Measures in Organization Theory: A Reminder,”Administrative Science Quarterly, 24, 650–9.
50.
WebsterFrederick and WindYoram (1972), Organization Buying Behavior. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc.
51.
WertsC., LinnRobert, and KarlJöreskog (1974), “Interclass Reliability Estimates: Testing Structural Assumptions,”Educational and Psychological Measurement, 34, 25–33.
