Customer Gratitude Scale

What it measures

Measures the positive relational emotion customers feel toward a firm in response to relationship investments — when the firm goes beyond the basic transaction to provide special benefits, personalised attention, or unexpected value. Customer gratitude is distinct from dispositional gratitude (the stable trait measured by GQ-6) — it is a specific emotional response to a firm's relationship-oriented behaviour. Palmatier et al. established that gratitude mediates the effect of relationship marketing investments on loyalty, word-of-mouth, and share of wallet, above and beyond satisfaction and commitment. Critical for relationship marketing, CRM, and loyalty programme research.

Response format

Likert (1–7, strongly disagree to strongly agree)

Scale items

• I am grateful for what [company/salesperson] has done for me.
• I feel thankful to [company/salesperson] for the help they have provided.
• I appreciate the effort [company/salesperson] has made for me.
• I feel indebted to [company/salesperson] for their assistance.
• I feel a sense of gratitude toward [company/salesperson].

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

Usage notes & scoring

Score = mean. Gratitude is elicited by unexpected, personalised benefits — routine service delivery does not generate gratitude. Gratitude has a stronger effect on share of wallet and WOM than on retention. Distinct from Gratitude Questionnaire-6 (GQ-6 id:137) which measures dispositional gratitude as a stable personality trait.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Palmatier, R.W., Jarvis, C.B., Bechkoff, J.R., & Kardes, F.R. (2009). The role of customer gratitude in relationship marketing. Journal of Marketing, 73(1), 1–19.

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