Place Distinction Scale

What it measures

Measures the degree to which a consumer perceives a specific place to be unique, in the sense that it possesses distinctive characteristics not found in comparable alternatives. Captures the consumer's evaluation that the place offers something genuinely different from what is available elsewhere, contributing to a sense that it is one of a kind.

Scale items

• This place is unique.
• This place has distinctive features that are not offered anywhere else.
• This place offers something different than the norm.
• This place is the only one of its kind.

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

Usage notes & scoring

Originally validated in a restaurant context using a community sample (n = 907) but item wording is readily applicable to other retail and non-retail places. Validated as one of four sense-of-place scales in the same study alongside the Place Attachment - Physical (ID 637), Place Attachment - Social (ID 638), and Place Nostalgia (ID 640) scales; the four can be used together as a multi-component sense-of-place battery. Attenuated reliability = .91. AVE = .72, supporting convergent validity. Items use a 7-point Likert format.

Recommended companion scales

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.

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