Developing a scale which would capture all the data required by a study is a time- consuming and difficult process. The present paper reviews the process of developing a scale for measuring consumer buying behavior in a store environment in three stages, namely, item generation, scale development and scale evaluation. To measure the effect of store environment cues, specifically background music and behavior of salesperson on consumer buying behavior, a scale was developed using six factors, namely, perception of merchandise quality, perception of overall environment, perception of ambient music, perception of affability of salesperson, emotion (pleasure/arousal), and behavior (approach/avoidance). Validation measures such as face validity, content validity and construct validity were employed to standardize the questionnaire with 43 statements. Factor analysis was used to check the unidimensionality of the scale to assess the consumer behavior.

The size of Indian retail market is US$396 bn and is expected to grow at the rate of 12% to increase up to US$574 bn by 2015 (www.deloitte.com/in). The development of real estate has resulted in the construction of many shopping malls augmenting the growth of organized retailing in India. The per capita income in India doubled between 2000-01 to 2009-10, resulting in improved purchasing power. This has also changed the mindset of Indian customers. It is shifting from low cost to high value, better convenience and quality shopping experience. On the one hand, the expectations of customers are going high, and on the other hand, competition is becoming very stiff. Modern day retailers are striving hard to create a difference in terms of customer experience. The emerging retailing trends in India pose the need to understand how consumers derive value from atmospheric cues within retail settings and study their impact on human behavior.

Scales are the most commonly used method of data collection in field research in all areas of study. Hundreds of scales have been developed to assess attitudes, knowledge, perceptions or opinions of consumers in order to examine the hypothesized relationships with buying behavior and other constructs. Scale development in psychological studies is an area of intense growth (Clark and Watson, 1995).

Marketing Management Journal, Consumer Perception Scale, Consumer Buying Behavior, Indian retail market.