Agency (External)

What it measures

A three-item scale measuring the degree to which a consumer perceives their outcomes to be determined by, and under the responsibility and control of, a specific external entity. Items contain a blank to be filled with the name of the focal agent — a brand, organisation, person, or abstract force — that the study frames as the source of external control. The scale operationalises externally attributed agency in consumer contexts and is designed as a companion to the Personal Agency scale, together capturing the locus of perceived control over outcomes.

Response format

7-point Likert (strongly disagree / strongly agree)

Scale items

• My outcomes seem determined by _____.
• _____ has responsibility for my outcomes.
• _____ has control over my outcomes.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

FILL-IN-THE-BLANK FORMAT: Blanks should be replaced with the name of the focal external entity (e.g., a brand name, 'the government', 'fate'). Single alpha: α = .96 — Beck, Rahinel & Bleier (2020, Study 4, n = 371 MTurk). VALIDITY: Not reported. Developed drawing on concepts from Kay et al. (2008), Lachman & Weaver (1998), and Shepherd & Kay (2012). Companion to Agency (Personal) scale (AGPE) from the same study — the two scales should be used together when both internal and external loci of control are theoretically relevant.

Recommended companion scales

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.

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