Physical Tangibility Perception

What it measures

Three nine-point Likert-type items assess the degree to which a product or service is perceived as physically present and accessible through human senses. Items tap ease of seeing and touching, physical graspability, and physical tangibility. The scale can also be reverse-scored to measure intangibility, as done by Laroche et al. (2005). It has been used in both offline and online retail contexts.

Response format

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

Scale items

• This __________ is very easy to see and touch.
• I can physically grasp __________.
• __________ is very physically tangible.

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

Usage notes & scoring

Alpha of .87 in Experiment 1; alphas of .95 (offline) and .95 (online) in Experiment 2. Originally published by Laroche, Bergeron, and Goutaland (2001) with alpha of .85 and CFA-supported convergent and discriminant validities. Items are reverse-coded for measuring intangibility. The name of the good, service, or other object should be placed in the blanks.

Citation

Laroche, M., Yang, Z., McDougall, G. H. G., & Bergeron, J. (2005). Internet versus bricks-and-mortar retailers: An investigation into intangibility and its consequences. Journal of Retailing, 81(4), 251–267.

Keywords