Measuring relational norms: some methodological issues

Purpose – The paper sets out to examine the validity of Kaufmann and Stern's operationalisation of Macneil's norm theory which they used when creating a set of scales to evaluate the degree of relationality in business‐to‐business (B2B) exchanges. The scales that Kaufmann and Stern developed to measure norms in B2B relationships have been used either directly or with limited adaptation in a large number of papers. Design/methodology/approach – Macneil's work was evaluated and a new set of scales developed and an experiment was carried out to determine whether or not these scales discriminated between relational and discrete exchanges more effectively than Kaufmann and Stern's scales. Findings – The experiment demonstrated that the new scales discriminated more effectively between relational and discrete exchanges than Kaufmann and Stern's scales. Research limitations/implications – The experiment would ideally have been run using experienced managers rather than students as respondents. However, the advantage of using students was that it was possible to create two groups whose members had attended an identical course on B2B relationship marketing. Originality/value – The paper demonstrates the importance, when conducting research that uses prior studies, of critically assessing prior theorising and research. The paper questions the validity of Kaufmann and Stern's scales. These scales have, since 1988, been the foundation of a substantial body of research into B2B relationships.