Object Essence Perception

What it measures

Three items measuring the extent to which a consumer believes a particular object carries an intangible essence, aura, or essential identity beyond its physical properties. Smith, Newman, and Dhar (2016) developed the scale to capture the psychological mechanism of temporal contagion — the idea that objects produced earlier in a series embody more of the creator's essence, driving preferences for lower serial numbers. The scale draws on prior work by Newman and colleagues on authenticity and celebrity contagion.

Response format

9-point Likert (1=strongly disagree, 9=strongly agree)

Scale items

• This item contains a certain essence.
• This item embodies an essential identity.
• There is some special quality or essence that this item embodies.

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

Usage notes & scoring

Alpha was .90. The 9-point response format is less common than 7-point scales and should be retained for comparability. Administered to MTurk participants (n=396). Validity was not formally addressed. A companion scale in the same study measured perceived object scarcity (see Object Scarcity Perception, ID 872).

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Smith, R.K., Newman, G.E., & Dhar, R. (2016). Closer to the creator: Temporal contagion explains the preference for earlier serial numbers. Journal of Consumer Research, 42(5), 653–668.

Keywords