Product interest and engagement scale, beta (pies-beta): initial development

ABSTRACT

We report a work in progress: development and initial validation of the Product Interest and Engagement Scale (PIES), a short assessment instrument measuring consumer interest in technology products. PIES reflects an explicitly multidimensional, hierarchical, and extensible model of product interest. It assesses consumer product interest in terms of an overall interest scale plus three subscales assessing interest in features and choices, personal image as affected by a product, and interest in optimizing one's choice with regards to a product. We report factor structure in a sample of N=225 US consumers and replication with N=180 US consumers. The results establish reliability of the overall 12-item scale and subscales in a broad consumer sample (Cronbach's alpha = 0.89 overall, 0.82-0.88 for subscales). Validity measures in the validation sample demonstrate convergent and discriminant validity with product ownership and product involvement measures. We regard PIES as currently being in beta form (PIES-beta). It is suitable for usage now but will undergo further revision in 2009.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.m MISCELLANEOUS

Additional Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.1 THE COMPUTER INDUSTRY
      Subjects: Markets

General Terms:
Measurement

Keywords:
evaluation, product interest, product involvement, psychometrics, scale development