Brand as Personal Identity Symbol

What it measures

This scale measures how much a consumer believes a brand carries symbolic meaning that connects them to their real self and important values. Bartsch, Zeugner-Roth, and Katsikeas (2022) used the symbolism dimension of an established brand authenticity measure to help validate their consumer authenticity seeking (CAS) framework.

Response format

7-point scale (strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (7))

Scale items

• a brand that adds meaning to people's lives.
• a brand that reflects important values people care about.
• a brand that connects people with their real selves.
• a brand that connects people with what is really important.

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

Usage notes & scoring

The scale was highly reliable (α = .94; Bartsch, Zeugner-Roth, and Katsikeas 2022, p. 306) among 766 U.S. MTurk respondents. It showed discriminant validity from the CAS dimensions and other measures in the study (AVE = .78). Note: the items are reused verbatim from the symbolism dimension of Morhart et al.'s (2015) established Brand Authenticity scale, whose continuity and integrity dimensions are already catalogued in this database (IDs 2046, 2047); reliability here reflects the focal paper's own administration.

Citation

Bartsch, Fabian, Katharina Petra Zeugner-Roth, and Constantine Katsikeas (2022), "Consumer Authenticity Seeking: Conceptualization, Measurement, and Contingent Effects," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 50 (2), 296-323.

Keywords

More Branding & Brand Psychology scales

• Brand Trustworthiness and Promise-Keeping2022 · 3 items
• Consumer-Brand Personal Identification2022 · 5 items
• Brand Fidelity to Founding Values2023 · 3 items
• Brand Hypocrisy2019 · 12 items
• Brand Message Authenticity2021 · 5 items
• Brand Authenticity (Integrity)2015 · 5 items