Product Necessity-Luxury Classification

What it measures

Six items classify a product on a necessity-to-luxury continuum based on perceptions of how the majority of people regard it. Items 4–6 are reverse-scored luxury anchors.

Response format

6-point Likert (1=strongly disagree, 6=strongly agree)

Scale items

• Luxury for everyone.
• Luxury for almost all people.
• Luxury for the majority of people.
• Necessity for the majority of people. (r)
• Necessity for almost all people. (r)
• Necessity for everyone. (r)

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

Usage notes & scoring

Developed by Bearden and Etzel (1982); no psychometric information provided at origin. Construct reliability .99 reported by Grewal, Mehta, and Kardes (2004). Cronbach's alpha not reported. Items 4, 5, and 6 are reverse-scored. This entry represents a product classification typology (necessity vs. luxury) rather than a psychometric scale. No Cronbach alpha reported in the source.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Bearden, W. O., & Etzel, M. J. (1982). Reference group influence on product and brand purchase decision. Journal of Consumer Research, 9(2), 183–194.

Keywords