Reactance to the Salesperson's Recommendations

What it measures

This four-item scale measures how strongly a customer felt motivated to push back against a salesperson's recommendations about what to buy, including feeling defensive and irritated by suggestions of additional items. Burchett, Murtha, and Kohli (2023) used it in four studies in research on secondary selling, where people other than the salesperson take part in the sales encounter. The scale is original but draws on concepts and key words from the four-factor reactance scale of Hong and Faedda (1996).

Response format

5-point Likert (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree)

Scale items

• The salesperson's recommendations made me defensive.
• I felt like resisting the salesperson's recommendations.
• I wanted to disregard the salesperson's attempt to influence my purchases.
• It irritated me when the salesperson pointed out additional items to buy.

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

Usage notes & scoring

Alphas were .91 (Study 2a), .92 (Study 2b), .93 (Study 3a), and .92 (Study 3b) (Burchett, Murtha, and Kohli 2023, p. 588; Web Appendix, pp. 14, 19). CFAs in Studies 2a and 2b supported unidimensionality and discriminant validity relative to the other scales in those studies (pp. 588, 595; Web Appendix, pp. 11, 14). See also Hong Psychological Reactance Scale (ID 369), Reactance (ID 1660), and Impression Management of the Salesperson (ID 90418).

Citation

Burchett, Molly R., Brian Murtha, and Ajay K. Kohli (2023), "Secondary Selling: Beyond the Salesperson-Customer Dyad," Journal of Marketing, 87 (4), 575-600.

Keywords

More Consumer Behaviour scales

• Cross-Buying Likelihood2023 · 3 items
• Connectedness with an Individual2010 · 6 items
• Attitude Toward the Salesperson1995 · 6 items
• Consumer Perceptions of Sales Pressure Scale2016 · 7 items
• Recommendation Intention2022 · 3 items
• Product Properties (Sensory)2022 · 3 items