Desire for Consensus

What it measures

A three-item scale measuring the degree to which a consumer desires their choices and preferences to align with those of other people. Items capture the motivation to reach consensus between one's own preferences and the majority, to support popular options, and to like what others like. The scale operationalises the social alignment motivation that arises under conditions of reduced personal control, capturing the tendency to seek safety and belonging through conformist preference alignment.

Response format

7-point Likert

Scale items

• I desire consensus between my options and those of others.
• I want to support popular options and opinions.
• I want to like things that others like.

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

Usage notes & scoring

Single alpha: α = .86 — Beck, Rahinel & Bleier (2020, Study 3; n = 496 MTurk). VALIDITY: Not reported. Scale source not identified — appears original to the authors. NOTE: This scale is from a different paper than the Agency (External) and Agency (Personal) scales (AGEX/AGPE) which share the same three authors but appear in Journal of Marketing Research 57(5), 874–891. This scale is from their Journal of Consumer Research 46(5), 871–886 paper, which examines preferences for brand leaders under low personal control — a related but distinct research programme.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Beck, Joshua T., Ryan Rahinel, and Alexander Bleier (2020). Company worth keeping: Personal control and preferences for brand leaders. Journal of Consumer Research, 46(5), 871–886.

Keywords