Confounding Effects of Construct Overlap:

A Conceptual Analysis of Switching Costs: Implications for Fitness Centers

In facing fierce competition, fitness centers have encountered challenges of generating long-term economic sustainability. The construct of switching costs, which has garnered considerable attention as a sustainable strategy, suffers from conceptual confusion in the literature, limiting the applicability of the concept to fitness centers. The purpose of the study is to conduct a conceptual analysis of switching costs, thereby clarifying conceptual confusion and providing implications for fitness centers. To achieve the purpose, a conceptual analysis method was adopted, in which 376 switching costs articles were analyzed. The results show that (1) several terms have been used individually and interchangeably, (2) there is no consensus on the definition, (3) both unidimensional and multidimensional conceptualizations have been used, (4) model specification has rarely been done, and (5) a paucity of studies have been conducted in the context of the sport industry. Overall, we highlight the conceptual weaknesses of previous switching costs research and offer several recommendations and approaches to scholars who are interested in this line of research. Furthermore, the conceptual analysis brings attention to the importance of conceptualization (e.g., choosing a term, defining a construct) and how conceptual confusion might impinge on future research in the marketing literature.

Measuring competency-relevant knowledge in the competency-oriented student progress test

Background: Since 2013 a competency-oriented student progress test (SKPT) has been administered at a number of German medical schools. The questions are generated on the basis of a two-dimensional blueprint, on which one axis contains the five competency domains - communicative competence (CO), practical clinical competence (CP), theoretical clinical competence (CT), scientific competence (SC), and professional decision-making competence (PR) - that form part of the competency model of the National Competency-based Catalogue of Learning Objectives for Undergraduate Medicine (NKLM). The feedback for students is structured in part according to these domains. The aim of our study is to examine if the results differentiated by competency domain show adequate measurement accuracy and if the results for the different domains also contain different information. Methods: The SKPTs for the years 2013 to 2017, taken by a total of 3,027 students, were examined. The measurement accuracy was determined using the coefficient glb (greatest bound to reliability) and the standard error of measurement; discriminant analysis of the principal components was carried out to demonstrate differentiation between the competency domains. Results: The reliability of the competency domains was above 0.8 for all SKPTs; exceptions to this were seen in two of the tests for CO and PR that had a reliability of 0.7-0.8. The results for all of the individual competency domains differed in their informational content compared to the overall of the other domains; the same applies for all pairwise comparisons, with the exceptions of CP and CT. Discussion: The SKPT feedback for students that is differentiated by competency domains basically fulfills the requirements for measurement reliability and distinctness. An improvement of the measurement quality for CO and PR and a better differentiation between CP and CT is desirable.