Minimalism (Sparse Aesthetics)

Preference for Visual Simplicity and Empty Space, Particularly at Home
4 items 2022 α 0.86 (Study 2); 0.84 (Study 3) Free Wilson, A. V., & Bellezza, S.

What it measures

This scale measures how strongly a consumer prefers visual simplicity, sparse design, and empty space, especially in their home. It is one of three dimensions in Wilson and Bellezza's (2022) consumer minimalism instrument, alongside number of possessions and mindfully curated consumption, developed through qualitative work followed by a series of quantitative studies.

Response format

7-point Likert (1=strongly disagree, 4=neither agree nor disagree, 7=strongly agree)

Scale items

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

Usage notes & scoring

Alphas were .86 (Study 2) and .84 (Study 3) (Wilson and Bellezza 2022, p. 805); the scale was used in other studies without reported alphas. Test-retest correlations in Study 5 (p. 808) were .75 over one week (163 Columbia Business School graduate students) and .72 over seven weeks (245 Prolific participants). Evidence supported unidimensionality and content, discriminant, known-groups, and predictive validity; AVEs were .62 (Study 2) and .57 (Study 3). Directions: 'Please indicate your agreement with each of the following statements about yourself.'

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Citation

Wilson, Anne V. and Silvia Bellezza (2022), "Consumer Minimalism," Journal of Consumer Research, 48 (5), 796-816.

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Keywords

#minimalism#aesthetics#designpreference#homeenvironment#visualsimplicity#consumerlifestyle

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