Consumer Emotional Intelligence Scale

What it measures

The CEIS adapts Mayer and Salovey's (1997) four-branch model of emotional intelligence for consumer behaviour contexts. Kidwell, Hardesty, and Childers (2007) developed the CEIS to capture consumers' abilities to: (1) perceive and accurately express their own emotions (AEE); (2) use emotional experience to guide cognitive activities (UEF); (3) understand complex emotional states and progressions (UAE); and (4) regulate emotional states to promote emotional and intellectual growth (RRE). The CEIS demonstrated validity in predicting consumer decision quality, resistance to persuasion, and susceptibility to emotional advertising. High-CEIS consumers make higher-quality decisions in affectively laden contexts and experience less post-purchase dissonance.

Representative items

• I know when to share my emotions with others in a shopping situation. (AEE)
• I use my emotions to help me make better consumer decisions. (UEF)
• I understand how my emotions change across different stages of a purchase. (UAE)
• I can control my emotions when making important purchases. (RRE)

Citation

Kidwell, B., Hardesty, D.M., & Childers, T.L. (2007). Consumer emotional intelligence: Conceptualization, measurement, and the prediction of consumer decision making. Journal of Consumer Research, 34(2), 154–166.