Marketing measurement: the traditional and the modern-way forward

Abstract

Since the advent of the C-OAR-SE procedure for the development of measures in marketing, there has been a renewed interest in improving marketing measurement. For long, marketing academics have adhered to the traditional scale development approach. However, C-OAR-SE has brought freshness in the marketing measurement literature. It has highlighted loopholes in the time-tested traditional approach but, not without facing its fair share of criticism. This article briefly describes the traditional approach and the C-OAR-SE procedure followed by a brief review of selected papers focusing on debates elicited by the C-OAR-SE procedure. As the outcome of the review, a discussion is provided highlighting the key insights concerning generalisability; content and construct validity; use of single-item measures and predictive validity; and developing optimal standard measures in marketing. The discussion leads to the suggestion of a prospective course of action for developing measures in marketing with the objective of improving marketing measurement.