Assessment of cross-national construct validity by probabilistic test models-the case of export information usage scales in the uk and new zealand

For a significant part of companies, even for small and medium sized ones, corporate success and, ultimately, survival depend on internationalization. On the other hand, successful export initiation and expansion has shown to be dependent on the way information is collected and used. Insufficient and distorted usage of information is a serious threat to each company affected. The importance of the topic is reflected in the fact that the ways companies use export information has become a comprehensive and fruitful area of empirical research. Theoretical models suggest three dimensions of information usage, instrumental, conceptual and symbolic use. Scales have been developed to measure these dimensions. The objective of this paper is to investigate the question whether this instrument allows for comparable measurement in a cross-national context. In terms of measurement theory, the application of the latest state-of-the-art methodology in cross-national marketing research provides a deeper understanding of the construct as well as a powerful approach to assess equivalence. The empirical examination pertains to exporting companies in the UK and in New Zealand. While conceptual use of information turns out to be a rather fuzzy concept where no common understanding of the indicators even within cultures could be derived, the construct validity of the scales measuring instrumental and symbolic information usage is highly satisfying. A sufficient number of equivalent items constitute a high degree of cross-national construct validity.