SUMMARY The purpose of the study was to develop a scale tomeasure the construct of involvement. Hence, a se-mantic differential scale was developed to capture theconcept of involvement for products. This Personal In-volvement Inventory was developed over four data setsof 268 undergraduate psychology students; two data setswith 49 MBA students; and two data sets with 57 clericaland administrative staflf members. The scale was dem-onstrated to have content validity by expert judges attwo phases of the scale development: first, for the se-lection of items, and second, through classification ofopen-ended responses from subjects. The reliability orstability of the scale over time was checked over twosubject populations for an average test-retest correlationof 0.90. The criterion-related validity of the scale waschecked by demonstrating agreement with the order ofvarious products as found in previous studies. The con-struct validity—the test ofthe scale to theoretical prop-ositions—was then carried out. The scale was admin-istered to clerical and administrative staff and coveredthree different product categories and several statementsof behavior proposed to be representative of involve-ment. Over all three product categories there was a pos-itive relationship between the scale scores and the sub-jects' responses to the statements of theoretical prop-ositions pertaining to involvement.

Measuring the Involvement Construct

Substantial evidence exists to support the proposition that consumer perceptions and preferences should be the basis for tourism marketing and consumerpolicy. Some of this evidence is reviewed, and a general model of traveler destination awareness and choice is presented. Results of an empirical test of the model provide some supportfor the hypotheses presented in the model.

A General Model Of Traveler Destination Choice

This article focuses on memory-based choice situations where changes in a brand's accessibility may affect the probability that it is retrieved and considered for choice. In such instances, factors other than evaluation may affect which brands are brought to mind at purchase. Two experiments are described that manipulate the determinants of brand accessibility and measure consequent effects on retrieval, consideration, choice, and evaluation. Results provide evidence for the influence of memory during the brand-choice process. For a brand to be selected in memory-based choice, the consumer must recall that brand and fail to recall other brands that might otherwise be preferred.

Recall and Consumer Consideration Sets: Influencing Choice without Altering Brand Evaluations

An attempt is made to explicate the meaning of construct validity. Operational issues in the process of construct validation are investigated. A subset of JMR studies involving construct validation...

Construct Validity: A Review of Basic Issues and Marketing Practices:

Building and testing theories of decision making by travellers

IN the consumer goods market, there are many product categories that are represented by numerous brands. To cope with this multiplicity of relatively similar brands in such common consumer product categories as toothpaste, beer, and canned vegetables, consumers must devise a means to simplify their purchase decisions. Several models and theories have been proposed to explain this consumer behavior. This article expands the concept described by the term evoked set by including and classifying all the brands that may be in the consumer's awareness set. This classification, based on the consumer's "psychology of simplification," is examined and the consequences of such behavior for product performance are discussed.' In this regard, the concepts of inert set and inept set are introduced, and the results of an exploratory study are presented to demonstrate the applicability of this conceptualization.

Consumer Behavior and Product Performance: An Alternative Conceptualization:

Consumer behavior theory, as it has largely evolved from economics with its rigid adherence to marginal utility theory, suggests that consumers are highly rational and that they basically strive to maximize utility or satisfaction by the careful rationing of resources. In this paper, the typical assumptions in consumer decision process models are reviewed and analyzed, the empirical evidence supporting the models of the rational consumer is challenged, the concept of rationalization is developed and the existential support for the concept is examined, the role and significance of alternative ego state on consumer decision processes are explained and finally, the rudiments of a revisionist approach to consumer behavior are advanced.

The role of rationalization in consumer decision processes: A revisionist approach to consumer behavior

Behavior Control: Are Consumers Beyond Freedom and Dignity?

[Inert Set or Inferred Set?]: An Explanation

Rom J. Markin is Professor of Business Administration and Chairman of the Marketing Area in the College of Economics and Business at Washington State University. He has published more than a score of articles which have appeared in professional and academic journals, and he has written three books&mdash; The Supermarkets: An Analysis of Growth, Development and Change, The Psychology of Consumer Behavior and a textbook&mdash;Retailing Management: A Systems Approach. Introduction

Rom J. Markin

Papers

Consumer Behavior and Product Performance: An Alternative Conceptualization:

The role of rationalization in consumer decision processes: A revisionist approach to consumer behavior

Behavior Control: Are Consumers Beyond Freedom and Dignity?

[Inert Set or Inferred Set?]: An Explanation

Consumerism: Militant Consumer Behavior: A Social and Behavioral Analysis