Markus Kirchberger

2014

A scale for theory testing in the context of customer value propositions in new technology based firms is developed. In order to test the structural model comprising of seven constructs and ten hypotheses, several items per construct are generated. A methodological proceeding for item generation and item selection is proposed. For eight items per construct, a pretest via an item-sort task is executed with 20 technology-based start-up firms to determine the substantive validity for each item. Furthermore, a methodology to assess validity for whole item sets and recognize assignment patterns among the constructs is presented. This approach is also helpful to substantiate the importance of the proceeding. As a result of the research, four items per construct are selected to form a multiple-item scale to measure each construct. Scale validity could be increased significantly through the pretest. Several biases which can occur in behavioral research are further discussed. and considered during the scale development process.