Constructing a Trade Show Exhibitor Satisfaction Scale from a Stakeholder Perspective

Year 2016, Volume: 2 Issue: 2, 13 - 35, 15.12.2016

Yeqiang Lin Deborah Kerstetter Benjamin Hickerson

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to construct and validate an Exhibitor Satisfaction Scale that accounts for the significant roles of three key stakeholders (i.e., trade show visitors, exhibitors, and organizers) in a trade show context through a pilot test, scale purification and validation. The final instrument consisted of 46-items representing 3 dimensions and 12 sub-dimensions of exhibitors’ satisfaction. Reliability, unidimensionality, content validity, construct validity, discriminant validity, and predictive validity of the scale were tested and established using 930 responses from 4 trade shows in China. The resulting instrument was found to be superior to existing instruments in that it comprehensively measures exhibitors’ performance at a trade show and explains a large portion of exhibitors’ overall satisfaction. A major contribution of this study is that it introduces stakeholder theory as a guiding framework for measuring satisfaction in the trade show industry.

Keywords

trade shows, stakeholder theory, exhibitors, satisfaction

References

• Anderson, E., Fornell, C., & Lehmann, D. (1994). Customer satisfaction, market share, and profitability: Findings from Sweden. Journal of Marketing, 58(3), 53–66.
• Anderson, J. C., & Gerbing, D. W. (1988). Structural equation modeling in practice: A review and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103(3), 411-423.
• Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1977). Attitude-behavior relations: A theoretical analysis and review of empirical research. Psychological Bulletin, 84(5), 888–918.
• Axelsson, B., & Easton, G. (1992). Industrial networks: A new view of reality. London: Routledge.
• Bagozzi, R. P., & Yi, Y. (1988). On the evaluation of structural equation models. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 16(1), 74-94.
• Bagozzi, R. P., Yi, Y., & Phillips, L. W. (1991). Assessing construct validity in organizational research. Administrative Science Quarterly, 36(3), 421-458.
• Bello, D. C. (1992). Industrial buyer behavior at trade shows: Implications for selling effectiveness. Journal of Business Research, 25(1), 59-80.
• Bello, D. C., & Lohtia, R. (1993). Improving trade show effectiveness by analyzing attendees. Industrial Marketing Management, 22(4), 311-318.
• Bentler, P. M. (1990). Comparative fit indexes in structural models. Psychological Bulletin, 107(2), 238–246.
• Berne, C., & García-Uceda, M. (2008). Criteria involved in evaluation of trade shows to visit. Industrial Marketing Management, 37(5), 565-579.
• Blythe, J. (2002). Using trade fairs in key account management. Industrial Marketing Management, 31(7), 627-635.
• Borghini, S., Golfetto, F., & Rinallo, D. (2006). Ongoing search among industrial buyers. Journal of Business Research, 59(10-11), 1151-1159.
• Bowen, J. T., & Chen, S. L. (2001). The relationship between customer loyalty and customer satisfaction. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 13(5), 213-217.
• Brady, M. K., & Cronin, J. J. (2001). Some new thoughts on conceptualizing perceived service quality: A hierarchical approach. Journal of Marketing, 65(3), 34-49.
• Bruhn, M., & Hadwich, K. (2005). Managing the service quality of trade fairs. In M. Kirchgeorg (Ed.), Trade show management: Planning, implementing and controlling of trade shows, conventions and events (pp. 787-821). Wiesbaden, Germany: Gabler Verlag. Cavanaugh, S. (1976). Setting objectives and evaluating the effectiveness of trade show exhibits. Journal of Marking, 40(4), 100–103.
• Choi, J., & Wang, H. (2009). Stakeholder relations and the persistence of corporate financial performance. Strategic Management Journal, 30(8), 895-907.
• Churchill, G. A. (1979). A paradigm for developing better measures of marketing constructs. Journal of Marking Research, 16(1), 64–77.
• Cortina, J. M. (1993). What is coefficient alpha? An examination of theory and applications. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78(1), 98–104.
• Dekimpe, M., François, P., Gopalakrishna, S., Lilien, G., & van den Bulte, C. (1997). Generalizing about trade show effectiveness: A cross-national comparison. Journal of Marketing, 61(4), 55-64.
• DeVellis, R. F. (2012). Scale development: Theory and applications. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
• Freeman, R. E. (1984). Strategic management: A stakeholder’s approach. Boston, MA: Pitman.
• Freeman, R. E., Harrison, J. S., Wicks, A. C., Parmar, B., & de Colle, S. (2010). Stakeholder theory: The state of the art. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Freeman, R. E. & McVea, J. (2001). A stakeholder approach to strategic management, in M. Hitt, R. Freeman, & J. Harrison (Eds.), The Blackwell handbook of strategic management (pp. 189-207). Oxford: Blackwell Business.
• Ford, D. (1990). Understanding business markets: Interaction, relationships, and networks. London: Academic Press.
• Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39-50.
• Godar, S., & O’Connor, P. (2001). Same time next year – Buyer trade show motives. Industrial Marketing Management, 30(1), 77-86.
• Gopalakrishna, S., & Lilien, G. (1995). A three-stage model of industrial trade show performance. Marketing Science, 14(1), 22-42.
• Gopalakrishna, S., Roster, C. A., & Sridhar, S. (2010). An exploratory study of attendee activities at a business trade show. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 25(4), 241-248.
• Gottlieb, U. R., Brown, M. R., & Drennan, J. (2011). The influence of service quality and trade show effectiveness on post-show purchase intention. European Journal of Marketing, 45(11/12), 1642-1659.
• Harrison, J. S. & Wicks, A. C. (2013). Stakeholder theory, value, and firm performance. Business Ethics Quarterly, 23(1), 97-124.
• Hansen, K. (2004). Measuring performance at trade shows: Scale development and validation. Journal of Business Research, 57(1), 1-13.
• Hansen, K. (1999). Trade show performance: A conceptual framework and its implications for future research. Academy of Marketing Science Review, 8, 1-21.
• Herbig, P., O’Hara, B., & Palumbo, F. (1997). Differences between trade show exhibitors and non-exhibitors. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 12(6), 368-382.
• Hillman, A. J., & Keim, G. D. (2001). Shareholder value, stakeholder management, and social issues: What's the bottom line? Strategic Management Journal, 22(2), 125-39.
• Hosany, S., & Gilbert, D. (2010). Measuring tourists’ emotional experiences toward hedonic holiday destinations. Journal of Travel Research, 49(4), 13-526.
• Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1998). Fit indices in covariance structure modeling: Sensitivity to underparameterized model misspecification. Psychological Methods, 3(4), 424–453.
• Jin, X., & Weber, K. (2013). Developing and testing a model of exhibition brand preference: The exhibitors’ perspective. Tourism Management, 38, 94-104.
• Jin, X., Weber, K., & Bauer, T. (2012). Relationship quality between exhibitors and organizers: A perspective from Mainland China’s exhibition industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31(4), 1222-1234.
• Jung, M. (2005). Determinants of exhibition service quality as perceived by attendees. Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, 7(3-4), 85-98.
• Kang, J., & Schrier, T. (2011). The decision-making process of tradeshow exhibitors: The effects of social value, company size, and prior experience on satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, 12(2), 65-85.
• Kerin, R., & Cron, W. (1987). Assessing trade show functions and performance: An exploratory study. Journal of Marketing, 51(3), 87-94.
• Konopacki, A. (1996). Tricks of the trade show. Marketing News, 30(3), 3-4.
• Lee, J., & Back, K. (2009). Examining the effect of self-image congruence, relative to education and networking, on conference evaluation through its competing models and moderating effect. Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, 10(4), 256-275.
• Lee, J. & Beeler, C. (2009). An investigation of predictors of satisfaction and future intention: Links to motivation, involvement, and service quality in a local festival. Event Management, 13(1), 17-29.
• Lee, M. J., Yeung, S., Dewald, B. (2010). An exploratory study examining the determinant of attendance motivations as perceived by attendees at Hong Kong Exhibitions. Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, 11(3), 195-208.
• Lin, Y. (2011). An exploratory study of organizer-oriented post-show evaluation. Peking University Cultural Industries Review, 3, 276-303.
• Lin, Y., Jiang, J., & Kerstetter, D. (2015). A three-component framework for trade show performance evaluation. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research. doi:10.1177/1096348015619747
• Mainardes, E. W., Alves, H., & Raposo, M. (2011). Stakeholder theory: Issues to resolve. Management Decision, 49(2), 226-252.
• Munuera, J., & Ruiz, S. (1999). Trade fairs as services: A look at visitors’ objectives in Spain. Journal of Business Research, 44(1), 17-24.
• Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric theory (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Oh, H. (2000). Diners’ perception of quality, value, and satisfaction: A practical viewpoint. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 41(3), 58–66.
• O'Hara, B. S., & Herbig, P. A. (1993). Trade shows: What do the exhibitors think? A personal selling perspective. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 8(4), 18-25.
• O’Keefe, D. J. (2002). Persuasion: Theory and research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Oppermann, M., & Chon, K. S. (1997). Convention participation decision-making process. Annals of Tourism Research, 24(1), 178–191.
• Pearlman, D. M., & Mollere, L. (2009). Meetings, incentive, convention, and exhibition evaluation practices: An exploratory study among destination marketing organizations. Journal of Convention and Event Tourism, 10(3), 147-165.
• Polonsky, M. (1996). Stakeholder management and the stakeholder matrix: Potential strategic marketing tools. Journal of Marketing-Focused Management, 1(1), 209-229.
• Reinhold, M., Reinhold, S., & Schmitz, C. (2010). Proceedings from European Marketing Academy 39th EMAC Annual Conference: Exhibitor satisfaction in business-to-business trade shows: Understanding performance patterns from Vavra’s Importance Grid perspective. Brüssel, Belgium: European Marketing Academy.
• Rosson, P. J., & Seringhaus, F. H. R. (1995). Visitor and exhibitor interaction at industrial trade fairs. Journal of Business Research, 32(1), 81-90.
• Rust, R. T., & R. L. Oliver. (1994). Service quality: New directions in theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Sarmento, M., Farhangmehr, M., & Simões, C. (2015). Participating in business-to-business trade fairs: Does the buying function matter? Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, 16(4), 273-297.
• Sashi, M., & Perretty, J. (1992). Do trade shows provide value? Industrial Marketing Management, 21(3), 249–255.
• Seringhaus, F., & Rosson, P. (2004, October). An analysis model for performance measurement of international trade fair exhibitors. Retrieved from http://citt.management.dal.ca/Files/pdf’s/DP-198.pdf
• Servert, D., Wang, Y., Chen, P. J., & Breiter, D. (2007). Examining the motivation,perceived performance, and behavioral intentions of convention attendees: Evidence from a regional conference. Tourism Management, 28(2), 399–408.
• Sheeran, P., Orbell, S., & Trafimow, D. (1999). Does the temporal stability of behavioral intentions moderate intention-behavior and past behavior-future behavior relations? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25(6), 721-730.
• Stanton, J. (1998). An empirical assessment of data collection using the Internet. Personnel Psychology, 51(3), 709-725.
• Steiger, J. H. (1990). Structural model evaluation and modification: An interval estimation approach. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 25(2), 173–180.
• Stoeck, N., & Schraudy, K. (2005). From trade show company to integrated communication service provider. In: M. Kirchgeorg (Ed.), Trade Show Management: Planning, Implementing and Controlling of Trade Shows, Conventions and Events (pp. 199–210). Gabler, Wiesbaden.
• Tanner, J. F., & Chonko, L. B. (1995). Trade show objectives, management, and staffing practices. Industrial Marketing Management, 24(4), 257-264.
• Tucker, L. R., & Lewis, C. (1973). A reliability coefficient for maximum likelihood factor analysis. Psychometrika, 38(1), 1–10.
• UFI. (2014), ―Global exhibition industry statistics‖, available at http://www.ufi.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/2014_exhibiton_industry_statistics_b.pdf (accessed 15 March 2016).
• Williams, J. D., Gopalakrishna, S., & Cox, J., M. (1993). Trade show guidelines for smaller firms. Industrial Marketing Management, 22(4), 265-75.
• Zhang, H. Q., Leung, V., & Qu, H. (2007). A refined model of factors affecting convention participation decision-making. Tourism Management, 28(4), 1123-1127.
• Zhang, L., Qu, H., & Ma, J. (2010). Examining the relationship of exhibition attendees’ satisfaction and expenditure: The case of two major exhibitions in China. Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, 11(2), 100-118.