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Measuring consumer innovativeness

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Abstract

The development of a self-report scale to measure domain specific consumer innovativeness is described. A major problem faced by researchers interested in the diffusion of innovations has been the difficulty in measuring the innovativeness construct in a reliable and valid way. Several operationalizations have been proposed and are commonly used, yet none has received substantial evidence supporting its reliability and validity. A series of six studies describes the development and evaluation of a six-item, self-report scale to measure innovativeness within a specific domain of interest familiar to the consumer. The scale is shown to be easy to administer, highly reliable and valid, and adaptable across domains.

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Goldsmith, R.E., Hofacker, C.F. Measuring consumer innovativeness. JAMS 19, 209–221 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02726497

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