Four Subtle Sins in Scale Development: Some Suggestions for Strengthening the Current Paradigm

Abstract

Despite continuing advances in statistical methods, problems in scalar measures persist. This paper reports the findings on a review of marketing scale batteries developed since the publication of Churchill's (1979) paper outlining a method for reliable and valid scale development. The authors found four problem areas. These are discussed and solutions suggested.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Babin

B.J.

, Darden

W.R.

, & Griffin

. (1994) Work and/or fun: measuring hedonic and utilitarian shopping value. Journal of Consumer Research, 20, pp. 644–656.

Bearden

W.O.

, Netemeyer

R.G.

, & Teel

J.E.

(1989) Measurement of consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence. Journal of Consumer Research, 15, March, pp. 473–481.

Behrman

D.N.

, & Perreault

W.D.

Jr. (1982) Measuring the performance of industrial salespersons. Journal of Business Research, 10, pp. 355–370.

Bloch

P.H.

(1981) An exploration into the scaling of consumers’ involvement with a product class. Advances in Consumer Research, 8, pp. 61–65.

Boyle

B.F.

, Dwyer

, Robicheaux

R.A.

, & Simpson

J.T.

(1992) Influence strategies in marketing channels: measures and use in different relationship structures. Journal of Marketing Research, 29, pp. 462–473.

Castleberry

S.B.

, Shepherd

C.D.

, & Ridnour

. (1999) Effective interpersonal listening in the personal selling environment: conceptualization, measurement, and nomological validity. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Winter, 30–38.

Diamantopoulos

, & Souchon

A.L.

(1999) Measuring export information use: scale development and validation. Journal of Business Research, 46, pp. 1–14.

Echtner

C.M.

, & Ritchie

J.R.B.

(1993) The measurement of destination image: an empirical assessment. Journal of Travel Research, Spring, pp. 3–12.

Ferrell

O.C.

, & Skinner

S.J.

(1988) Ethical behavior and bureaucratic structure in marketing research organizations. Journal of Marketing Research, 25, pp. 103–109.

10.

Kohli

A.K.

, Jaworski

B.J.

, & Kumar

. (1993) MARKOR: a measure of market orientation. Journal of Marketing Research, 30, pp. 467–477.

11.

Kohli

A.K.

, & Zaltman

. (1988) Measuring multiple buying influences. Industrial Marketing Management, 17, pp. 197–204.

12.

Lichtenstein

D.R.

, Ridgway

N.M.

, & Netemeyer

R.G.

(1993) Price perceptions and consumer shopping behavior: a field study. Journal of Marketing Research, 30, pp. 234–245.

13.

Martin

I.M.

, & Eroglu

. (1993) Measuring a multidimensional construct: country image. Journal of Business Research, 28, pp. 191–210.

14.

Moorman

, Zaltman

, & Deshpande

. (1992) Relationships between providers and users of market research: the dynamics of trust within and between organizations. Journal of Marketing Research, 29, pp. 314–328.

15.

Parasuraman

, Zeithaml

V.A.

, & Berry

L.L.

(1988) SERVQUAL: a multipleitem scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality. Journal of Retailing, 64, 1, pp. 12–40.

16.

Pecheux

, & Derbaix

. (1999) Children and attitude toward the brand: a new measurement scale. Journal of Advertising Research, July/August, pp. 19–27.

17.

Pritchard

M.P.

, Havitz

M.E.

, & Howard

D.R.

(1999) Analyzing the commitmentloyalty link in service contexts. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 27, 3, pp. 333–348.

18.

Reardon

, Miller

C.E.

, & Coe

. (1995) Applied scale development: measurement of store image. Journal of Applied Business Research, 11, 4, pp. 85–93.

19.

Singhapakdi

, Vitell

S.J.

, Rallapalli

K.C.

, & Kraft

K.L.

(1996) The perceived role of ethics and social responsibility: a scale development. Journal of Business Ethics, 15, pp. 1131–1140.

20.

Stone

, Barnes

J.H.

, & Montgomery

. (1995) ECOSCALE: a scale for the measurement of environmentally responsible consumers. Psychology & Marketing, 12, 7, pp. 595–612.

21.

Valence

, d'Astous

, & Fortier

. (1988) Compulsive buying: concept and measurement. Journal of Consumer Policy, 11, pp. 419–433.

22.

Vandamme

, & Leunis

. (1993) Development of a multipleitem scale for measuring hospital service quality. International Journal of Industry Management, 4, 3, pp. 30–49.

23.

Wang

C.L.

, & Mowen

J.C.

(1997) The separatenessconnectedness selfschema: scale development and application to message construction. Psychology & Marketing, 14, 2, pp. 185–207.

24.

Aimoo

, & Friedman

H.H.

(2000) Overall evaluation of rating scales: an assessment. International Journal of Market Research, 42, 3, pp. 301–310.

25.

Anastasi

. (1986) Evolving concepts of test validation. Annual Review of Psychology, 37, pp. 1–15.

26.

Anderson

J.C.

, & Gerbing

D.W.

(1988) Structural equation modeling in practice: a review and recommended twostep approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 3, pp. 411–423.

27.

Babakus

, & Boller

G.W.

(1992) An empirical assessment of the SERVQUAL scale. Journal of Business Research, 24, pp. 253–268.

28.

Bagozzi

R.P.

(1984) A prospectus for theory construction in marketing. Journal of Marketing, 48, 1, pp. 11–29.

29.

Bagozzi

R.P.

(1994) ACR Fellow Speech. In: Advances in Consumer Research, C.T. Allen & D.R. John (Eds). Association for Consumer Research, 21, pp. 8–11.

30.

Bagozzi

R.P.

, & Yi

. (1988) On the evaluation of structural equation models. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 16, 1, pp. 74–94.

31.

Bearden

W.O.

, & Netemeyer

R.G.

(1999). Handbook of Marketing Scales: Multiitem Measures for Marketing and Consumer Behavior Research (2nd edn). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

32.

Bentler

P.M.

, & Bonett

D.G.

(1980) Significance tests and goodness of fit in the analysis of covariance structures. Psychological Bulletin, 88, 3, pp. 588–606.

33.

Carman

J.M.

(1990) Consumer perceptions of service quality: an assessment of the SERVQUAL dimensions. Journal of Retailing, 66, 1, pp. 33–55.

34.

Carmines

E.G.

, & Zeller

R.A.

(1979). Reliability and Validity Assessment. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

35.

Churchill

G.A.

Jr. (1979) A paradigm for developing better measures of marketing constructs. Journal of Marketing Research, 16, February, pp. 64–73.

36.

Cortina

J.M.

(1993) What is coefficient alpha? An examination of theory and applications. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 1, pp. 98–104.

37.

Cronbach

L.J.

, & Meehl

P.E.

(1955) Construct validity in psychological tests. Psychological Bulletin, 52, pp. 281–302.

38.

Cronin

J.J.

Jr. , & Taylor

S.A.

(1992) Measuring service quality: a reexamination and extension. Journal of Marketing, 56, 3, pp. 55–67.

39.

DeVellis

R.F.

(1991). Scale Development: Theory and Applications. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

40.

Flynn

L.R.

, & Goldsmith

R.E.

(1999) A short, reliable measure of perceived knowledge. Journal of Business Research, 46, 1, pp. 57–66.

41.

Fornell

, & Larcker

D.W.

(1981) Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18, February, pp. 39–50.

42.

Gerbing

D.W.

, & Anderson

J.C.

(1988) An updated paradigm for scale development incorporating unidimensionality and its assessment. Journal of Marketing Research, 25, May, pp. 186–192.

43.

Ghiselli

E.E.

, Campbell

J.P.

, & Zedeck

. (1981). Measurement Theory for the Behavioral Sciences. San Francisco, CA: W. Freeman & Co.

44.

Hinkin

T.R.

(1995) A review of scale development practices in the study of organizations. Journal of Management, 21, 5, pp. 967–988.

45.

Jacoby

. (1978) Consumer research: a state of the art review. Journal of Marketing, 42, 2, pp. 87–96.

46.

Kline

. (1995) A critical review of the measurement of personality and intelligence. In: International Handbook of Personality and Intelligence, Saklofske

Donald H.

, & Zeidner

Moshe

(Eds). New York: Plenum Press, pp. 505–524.

47.

Lam

S.S.K.

, & Woo

K.S.

(1997) Measuring service quality: a testretest investigation of SERVQUAL. Journal of the Market Research Society, 39, 2, pp. 381–396.

48.

Llosa

, Chandon

J.L.

, & Orsingher

. (1998) An empirical study of SERVQUAL's dimensionality. The Service Industries Journal, 18, 2, pp. 16–44.

49.

McDougall

G.H.G.

, & Levesque

T.J.

(1994) A revised view of service quality dimensions: an empirical investigation. Journal of Professional Services Marketing, 11, 1, pp. 189–209.

50.

Mels

, Boshoff

, & Nel

. (1997) The dimensions of service quality: the original European perspective revisited. The Service Industries Journal, 17, 1, pp. 173–189.

51.

Miller

M.B.

(1995) Coefficient Alpha: a basic introduction from the perspectives of classical test theory and structural equation modeling. Structural Equation Modeling, 2, 3, pp. 255–273.

52.

Nunnally

J.C.

(1967). Psychometric Theory. New York: McGrawHill.

53.

Peter

J.P.

(1979) Reliability: a review of psychometric basics and recent marketing practices. Journal of Marketing Research, 16, February, pp. 6–17.

54.

Peter

J.P.

(1981) Construct validity: a review of basic and marketing practices. Journal of Marketing Research, 18, May, pp. 133–145.

55.

Peter

J.P.

, & Churchill

G.A.

Jr. (1986) Relationships among research design choices and psychometric properties of rating scales: a metaanalysis. Journal of Marketing Research, 23, February, pp. 1–10.

56.

Peterson

R.A.

(1994) A metaanalysis of Cronbach's coefficient alpha. Journal of Consumer Research, 21, September, pp. 381–391.

57.

Smith

A.M.

(1999) Some problems when adapting Churchill's paradigm for the development of service quality measurement scales. Journal of Business Research, 46, 2, pp. 109–120.

58.

Spector

P.E.

(1992). Summated Rating Scale Construction: An Introduction. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

59.

Triplett

, Yau

O.H.

, & Neal

. (1994) Assessing the reliability and validity of SERVQUAL in a longitudinal study: the experience of an Australian organization. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 6, 12, pp. 41–62.