Developing Measures of Market Orientation: The Case of Ethiopian Seed Producer Cooperatives

Abstract

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to develop and illustrate a generally applicable approach on how scales for marketing constructs can adequately be developed for application in diverse cultural contexts, and to illustrate the approach in the development of market orientation measurement for seed producer cooperatives (SPCs) context in Ethiopia. Both cross-context comparable items and context-specific items are included. Results show that an instrument for measuring market orientation in the specific context combines both general and context-specific items. Market orientation in the context is a multidimensional construct consisting of four dimensions: customer, competitor and supplier orientation, and interfunctional coordination. SPCs and organizations that aim to support SPCs can use the market orientation measure to monitor the progress of SPCs toward successful commercial enterprises.