Measuring customer pre-purchase satisfaction in a retail setting

Previous studies have addressed customer satisfaction as a post-purchase phenomenon. However, examining solely post-purchase satisfaction when investigating consumer satisfaction is incomplete because multiple stages are involved in the purchase decision making process. Thus, the purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to assess customer satisfaction in the pre-purchase stage using procedures for developing a reliable and valid scale, as proposed by Churchill [1979. A paradigm of developing better measures of marketing constructs. Journal of Marketing Research, 16(1), 64-73.] and DeVellis [2003. Scale development: Theory and applications (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.]. Two sets of data were collected to carry out two stages of scale purification - 98 subjects participated in the first stage and 443 subjects participated in the second stage. The factor structures, reliability, and construct validity were tested to assess the properties of the final scale. Findings revealed a 21-item, 6-dimension scale measuring customers' pre-purchase satisfaction. Discussion of the results, managerial implications, study limitations, and suggestions for future research are presented.