General Involvement Scale

What it measures

A four-item Likert-type scale measuring the degree of personal interest and importance a person attaches to a specified object or product category. Items use a blank-insertion format to allow easy adaptation across object types — including product categories, services, activities, or events. Unlike most general involvement measures which use semantic differential formats, this scale uses Likert-type statements, distinguishing it from the Personal Involvement Inventory (id:201, id:524), Components of Involvement (id:519), and New Involvement Profile (id:522). Brocato, Baker, and Voorhees (2015) appear to have created the scale by converting key positive-anchor phrases from Zaichkowsky's (1985) Personal Involvement Inventory into first-person statements. Used with restaurants in the original application, but the item stem is generic enough to apply to a wide range of consumer categories. Alpha = .95 and AVE = .84 indicate excellent reliability and strong convergent validity.

Scale items

• In general, I have a strong interest in _____.
• _____ are very important to me.
• _____ matter a lot to me.
• _____ mean a lot to me.

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

Usage notes & scoring

Researchers should place a generic name for the focal category in the blanks — the original study used 'restaurants.' The CFA reported by Brocato et al. (2015) showed good model fit with convergent and discriminant validity established across multiple constructs in the same measurement model, with AVE = .84 for this scale. The scale's Likert format makes it particularly convenient in multi-item survey batteries where semantic differential scales would disrupt the response format. For applications requiring a more nuanced multidimensional involvement profile, the Components of Involvement (id:519) or New Involvement Profile (id:522) may be more appropriate. Researchers should note item 3 lacks a period in the original source ('_____ matter a lot to me'); standardise punctuation in questionnaire design.

Citation

Brocato, E. D., Baker, J., & Voorhees, C. M. (2015). Creating consumer attachment to retail service firms through sense of place. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43(2), 200–220.