Use Innovativeness Scale

What it measures

One of the most expansive innovativeness scales in the marketing literature, capturing creative product use rather than new product adoption. Mean total score 199 (range 112-299). Subscale alphas: Creativity/Curiosity 0.86, Risk Preferences 0.70, Voluntary Simplicity 0.64, Creative Reuse 0.82, Multiple Use Potential 0.56. Factor intercorrelations 0.14-0.65. Validated with calculator usage as criterion measure — high scorers showed significantly greater variety in calculator use. Conceptually distinct from adoption innovativeness (which focuses on being first to buy new products) — use innovativeness focuses on creative product extension after adoption.

Response format

7-point Likert-type format; items summed within factors for factor indices, or summed overall (range not specified but observed 112–299). Some items require reverse scoring.

Scale items

Creativity/Curiosity (13 items) — tinkering, curiosity, and enjoyment of understanding how things work. 7-point Likert. Items 5 and 10 require reverse scoring.

• Knowing how a product works offers almost as much pleasure as knowing that the product works well.
• I am very creative when using products.
• I am less interested in the appearance of an item than in what makes it tick.
• As a child, I really enjoyed taking things apart and putting them back together again.
• As long as a product works well, I don't really care how it works. (R)
• Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect.
• I am very curious about how things work.
• I like to build things for my home.
• If I can't figure out how something works, I would rather tinker with it than ask for help.
• I never take anything apart because I know I'll never be able to put it back together again. (R)
• I like to fix things around the house.
• I have gotten instruction in self-reliance skills (e.g., carpentry, car tune-up, etc.).
• I would rather fix something myself than take it to someone to fix.

Risk Preferences (9 items) — willingness to work without instructions or in unfamiliar territory. 7-point Likert. Items 3, 4, and 9 require reverse scoring to reflect risk aversion preference.

• When I try to do projects on my own, I'm afraid I will make a worse mess of them than if I had just left them alone.
• I always follow manufacturer's warnings against removing the backplates on products.
• When I try to do projects on my own, without exact directions, they usually work out really well. (R)
• I find very little instruction is needed to use a product similar to one I'm already familiar with. (R)
• I'm afraid to buy a product I don't know how to use.
• I'm uncomfortable working on projects different from types I'm accustomed to.
• I always follow manufacturer's warnings regarding how to use a product.
• If a product comes in an assembled and an unassembled form, I always buy the assembled form, even though it costs a little more.
• I like to improvise when I cook. (R)

Voluntary Simplicity (5 items) — making, repairing, and sourcing secondhand rather than buying new. 7-point Likert.

• I like to make clothing or furniture for myself and my family.
• I often buy clothing at second hand stores.
• I often make gifts instead of buying them.
• When building something, it is better to use things already around the house than to buy materials.
• I often buy items such as furniture at garage sales.

Creative Reuse (10 items) — repurposing, adapting, and extending products beyond original intent. 7-point Likert.

• I save broken appliances because I might fix them someday.
• I save broken appliances because I might be able to use the parts from them.
• I enjoy thinking of new ways to use old things around the house.
• I find myself saving packaging on products to use in other ways (e.g., egg cartons, plastic shopping bags, etc.).
• When I build something, I can often make do with things I've already got around the house.
• Even if I don't have the right tool for the job, I can usually improvise.
• I never throw something away that I might use later.
• I take great pleasure in adapting products to new uses that the manufacturer never intended.
• In general, I would rather alter an old product to work in a new situation than purchase a new product specifically for that purpose.
• After the useful life of a product, I can often think of ways to use the parts of it for other purposes.

Multiple Use Potential (7 items) — tendency to find and value multiple applications for products. 7-point Likert. Item 5 requires reverse scoring.

• I do not enjoy a product unless I can use it to its fullest capacity.
• I use products in more ways than most people.
• I often buy a food item for a particular recipe but end up using it for something else.
• A product's value is directly related to the ways that it can be used.
• It's always impossible to improve on a project by adding new features. (R)
• After purchase of a product such as a stereo or camera, I try to keep track of new accessories that come out into the market.
• I enjoy expanding and adding onto projects that I'm involved in on a continuing basis.

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

Usage notes & scoring

Several items require reverse scoring — see notes in original. Creativity/Curiosity items 5 and 10 require reverse coding. Risk Preferences items 3, 4, and 9 require reverse coding (to reflect a risk aversion preference). Multiple Use Potential item 5 requires reverse coding. The voluntary simplicity items were drawn from Leonard-Barton (1981). This scale is comprehensive but lengthy (44 items) — for shorter surveys, only the most theoretically relevant subscales should be included.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Price, L.L., & Ridgway, N.M. (1983). Development of a scale to measure use innovativeness. Advances in Consumer Research, 10, 679–684.

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