Self-referencing

What it measures

The scale captures self-referencing — how much a person relates content back to their own life and experiences — a well-established construct in persuasion research.

Response format

7-point Likert (1=strongly disagree, 7=strongly agree)

Scale items

• I could easily picture myself in the scene.
• I had a vivid image of _____ myself.
• The image reminded me of my own experiences with _____.
• I was thinking about what it would be like to have a _____ myself.
• I can personally relate to this image.

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

Usage notes & scoring

Used by Hartmann et al. (2021) with a large MTurk sample (n = 750), drawing ideas primarily from Escalas (2007) and to a lesser extent from Meyers-Levy and Peracchio (1996) — a companion scale to Product Purchase Interest (id 90085) from the same paper. Reliability was excellent (α = .94). Validity wasn't separately discussed. Note: the specific journal for this citation wasn't confidently identified and is pending verification.

Citation

Hartmann, Jochen, Mark Heitmann, Christina Schamp, and Oded Netzer (2021), "The Power of Brand Selfies," Journal of Marketing Research, 58 (6), 1159-1177.

Keywords