Testing and validating a tool to measure product involvement from its antecedents

Abstract

Lot of research has been carried out lately with respect to the concept of involvement.  This has become an area of interest from multiple strategic angles. Since, involvement is a concept which is related with the psychology and buying behavior of consumers, it is relatively cumbersome to measure. This paper has attempted to examine product involvement for real estate properties in the state of Gujarat, India. Data was collected in the form of structured questionnaires from respondents across the three most populated urban cities i.e. Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara. The tool had thirty questions asking respondents to provide their opinion on statements on a seven point likert scale.  A total sample of 600 was considered appropriate with equal samples from the three cities. Data was collected on the basis of stratified random sampling where occupation was considered as the strata. The statements were formed considering three dimensions of involvement i.e. cognition, affection and behavioural. The data was found fit for factor analysis based on KMO and Bartlett’s test.  Factor analysis (Principal Axis Factoring) was carried out to test and validate factors that had an impact in determining product involvement. The results showed that from the three dimensions and thirty questions, five antecedents were found which were named as Affect (Af), Awareness (Aw), Intent (In), Credence (Cr) and Action (Ac). The tool developed was named as Involvement Antecedent Framework (IAF). Lastly, correlation analysis confirmed high levels of correlation between the antecedents of involvement.