Agency (Personal)

What it measures

A three-item scale measuring the degree to which a specific stimulus — such as a brand interaction or product — makes a consumer feel that they personally determine, are responsible for, and have control over their outcomes. Items contain a blank to be filled with the focal stimulus, enabling the scale to capture how particular brand or product encounters affect the subjective sense of personal agency. Companion to the External Agency scale, together capturing the internal-external locus of control distinction in a consumer context.

Representative items

• _____ makes me feel like I determine my outcomes.
• _____ makes me feel like my outcomes are more under my control.

Citation

Beck, Joshua T., Ryan Rahinel, and Alexander Bleier (2020). Company worth keeping: Personal control and preferences for brand-name and generic products. Journal of Marketing Research, 57(5), 874–891.