Perceived Source Expertise

What it measures

This scale measures how knowledgeable and expert a person appears to another person on a given topic. D'Angelo and Valsesia (2023) used it across nine studies to show that combinatory product recommendations, such as those from a chef, interior design adviser, or DJ, signal greater expertise than single-item recommendations.

Response format

7-point scale (not at all (1) to very much (7))

Scale items

• To what extent does this person seem like a ___ expert?
• To what extent does this person seem knowledgeable about ___?
• To what extent do you feel this person knows what they are talking about?

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

Usage notes & scoring

Reliability was consistently very high across the nine studies, with alphas ranging from .94 to .97 (D'Angelo and Valsesia 2023). In Studies 4 and 5, the scale showed discriminant validity from a measure of product attitude, with average variance extracted of .86 and .83, respectively. The blank should be filled with the name of the focal topic (e.g., food, interior design, music).

Citation

D'Angelo, Jennifer K. and Francesca Valsesia (2023), "You Should Try These Together: Combinatory Recommendations Signal Expertise and Improve Product Attitudes," Journal of Marketing Research, 60 (1), 155-169.

Keywords

More Consumer Decision Making scales

• Post-Recommendation Product Attitude2023 · 3 items
• Source Trustworthiness Scale2015 · 4 items
• Preference for Consistency Scale1995 · 18 items
• Need to Evaluate Scale1996 · 16 items
• Need for Cognition Scale1982 · 34 items
• Rational-Experiential Inventory1999 · 40 items