The Selling Orientation–Customer Orientation (Soco) Scale: Cross-Validation of the Revised Version

Abstract

In a study on the measurement of customer orientation of salespersons, Thomas, Soutar, and Ryan (2001) proposed a shorter version of the 24-item selling orientation–customer orientation (SOCO) scale developed by Saxe and Weitz (1982). This revised version is a 10-item scale, where, the selling orientation and the customer orientation dimensions are measured by five items each. Thomas, Soutar, and Ryan claimed that their version of the SOCO scale is reliable and valid, and the reduction in items from 24 to 10 will reduce response fatigue and acquiescence bias. Further, sales researchers can incorporate the ten-item SOCO scale in larger studies with other constructs. Our study attempted to cross-validate this revised version of the SOCO scale in a business-to-business setting. The results established the generalizability of the revised scale.