Customer Orientation Scale (Retail Manager-Rated)

What it measures

Three-item store manager-rated scale measuring the extent to which a retail store is committed to customers, creates customer value, and understands customer needs—all assessed relative to competitors. Adapted from Narver and Slater (1990) and reframed at the store level with a competitive comparison framing. One item (‘Our store sets customer satisfaction objectives’) removed during item purification.

Response format

5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree)

Scale items

• Relative to our competitors, our store is committed to customers.
• Relative to our competitors, our store tries to create customer value.
• Relative to our competitors, our store understands customer needs.

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

Usage notes & scoring

Coefficient alpha = .76 (below .80 threshold); composite reliability = .84 (meets threshold). Included on the basis of CR criterion per standing QC rule (α or CR ≥ .80). Validated across U.S. and German clothing and furniture retailers with configural and partial metric invariance. Significant positive antecedent of service-oriented business strategy (β = .16, p ≤ .01). Adapted from Narver and Slater (1990).

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Homburg, C., Hoyer, W. D., & Fassnacht, M. (2002). Service orientation of a retailer’s business strategy: Dimensions, antecedents, and performance outcomes. Journal of Marketing, 66(4), 86–101.

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