A scale for measuring store personality

Abstract

Abstract The objective of this research study was to develop a scale for measuring store personality and to assess its psychometric properties. A preliminary study showed that store personality comprised five dimensions, termed sophistication, solidity, genuineness, enthusiasm, and unpleasantness. A follow‐up survey with 226 adult consumers confirmed the stability of the factorial structure of the 34‐item store‐personality scale as well as the reliability of each composite dimension. Some empirical evidence was gathered with respect to the scale's construct validity, because the proposed store‐personality scale was shown to behave in a manner consistent with self‐image congruence theory. Additional analyses revealed that a reduced scale including 20 items exhibited factorial stability and resulted in reliable measures of the five store‐personality dimensions. Finally, some empirical support was obtained in favor of using the proposed scale across different retail settings. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.