Customer Adaptiveness Scale

What it measures

Customer adaptiveness captures the degree to which a customer firm is willing to modify or adapt its internal routines and processes to accommodate a supplier's solution. Effective solution provision requires customers to adjust their processes, tolerate heightened risk from unforeseen contingencies, and engage in what-if dialogues with the salesperson to explore potential product configurations. The 5-item reflective scale was newly developed for Panagopoulos, Rapp, and Ogilvie (2017), drawing on the conceptual definition of customer adaptiveness in Tuli, Kohli, and Bharadwaj (2007) but with all items newly written. Validated in Study 3 using customer-reported data from a pumping systems manufacturer in Germany (n = 185). Items use a placeholder [Supplier Name] to be adapted to context.

Response format

7-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree)

Scale items

• In our company, we're willing to modify our processes in order to facilitate our relationship with [Supplier Name].
• In our company, we're open to adapt our processes in order to facilitate the implementation of a recommended solution from [Supplier Name].
• In our company, we can easily adjust to the requirements of a suggested solution from [Supplier Name].
• In our company, we're willing to modify our routines in order to facilitate our relationship with [Supplier Name].
• In our company, we're willing to adapt our product/services in order to facilitate our relationship with [Supplier Name].

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

CR = .85, AVE = .53; the value in the alpha field reflects composite reliability (CR), not Cronbach's alpha. Factor loadings: .82, .71, .64, .72, .72 (all p < .01). Validated in Study 3 (n = 185 customer firms; pumping systems manufacturer, Germany; mean = 4.09, SD = 1.15). Customer adaptiveness did not significantly moderate the relationship between salesperson solution involvement and sales performance (g = .10, p > .10), contrary to H5. The authors attribute this null finding to a 'customer is king' dynamic characteristic of the highly complex purchasing environment studied, where customers may not reciprocate high supplier customisation with equivalent process adaptation.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Panagopoulos, N. G., Rapp, A. A., & Ogilvie, J. L. (2017). Salesperson solution involvement and sales performance: The contingent role of supplier firm and customer-supplier relationship characteristics. Journal of Marketing, 81(4), 144-164. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.15.0342

Keywords