Components of Involvement

What it measures

One of the earliest multidimensional conceptualisations of consumer involvement, the CP scale decomposes involvement into six theoretically distinct components. Lastovicka and Gardner (1979) drew on earlier work by Krugman (1965) and Rothschild (1979) to distinguish cognitive facets (importance, interest, risk probability), affective facets (pleasure), social-symbolic facets (sign value), and consequence-related facets (risk importance). The six-component model strongly influenced subsequent instrument development, most notably Laurent and Kapferer's (1985) CIP. Importance and Interest items most reliably differentiate high- from low-involvement product classes; Sign Value items differentiate publicly versus privately consumed products. Risk Importance and Risk Probability are theoretically orthogonal.

Representative items

• This product is important to me. (IMP)
• Buying this product is a pleasurable experience. (PL)
• Owning this product says something about the kind of person I am. (SV)
• If I made a wrong choice of this product, it would be a big mistake. (RI)
• I am not sure which brand of this product to choose. (RP)

Citation

Lastovicka, J.L., & Gardner, D.M. (1979). Components of involvement. In J.C. Maloney & B. Silverman (Eds.), Attitude Research Plays for High Stakes (pp. 53–73). American Marketing Association.