Emotional Ability Similarity

What it measures

A four-item scale measuring the degree to which a consumer perceives themselves as emotionally similar to another person or target group — specifically in terms of shared emotional reactions, emotional response styles, and emotional understanding. Items tap similarity in how things make them feel emotionally, emotional style, understanding of each other's feelings, and overall emotional similarity. Developed for research on consumer-cause identification and prosocial behaviour.

Response format

7-point Likert

Scale items

• We are similar to each other in terms of the things that make us feel emotional.
• We share a similar emotional style.
• We understand each other's feelings.
• We are emotionally similar to each other.

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

Usage notes & scoring

Single alpha: α = .95 — Du & Hu (2021). VALIDITY: Not reported. Scale appears original to the authors. Developed for research on consumer-cause identification in cause-related marketing; applicable more broadly to contexts where emotional similarity to a target (person, group, or cause) is theoretically relevant.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Du, Shuili and Lingying Hu (2021). How consumer-cause identification motivates consumers to take action for cause-related marketing: The mediating role of perceived social influence. Journal of Marketing, 85(1), 99–117.

Keywords