Authenticity of the Person

What it measures

A four-item scale measuring the degree to which a consumer perceives a target person as authentic — true to themselves, guided by their convictions, and resistant to external social pressure. Three items positively keyed; one reverse-scored. Blanks for target person name.

Response format

7-point Likert

Scale items

• I believe _____ is true to her/himself in most situations.
• I believe _____ is being true to who she/he really is.
• I believe that _____ stands by what she/he believes in.
• I believe _____ is strongly influenced by the opinions of others. (r)

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

Usage notes & scoring

FILL-IN-THE-BLANK FORMAT: Blanks replaced with target person name or pronoun. Alpha ranged from .77 to .87 across six studies — Smith, VanDellen & Ton (2021). Lower bound .77 below threshold; included on .87 upper. One item reverse-scored. Adapted from Wood et al. (2008) rephrased to third-person attribution.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Smith, Rosanna K., Michelle R. VanDellen, and Ari Ton (2021). Authenticity appeals in consumer contexts. Journal of Consumer Research, 48(1), 100–119.

Keywords