Measuring purchase decision involvement for financial services: comparison of the Zaichkowsky and Mittal scales

A random sample of 308 UK consumers was used to compare two scales for the measurement of consumer involvement ‐ Zaichkowsky’s revised Personal Involvement Inventory and Mittal’s Purchase‐decision Involvement Scale ‐ in terms of internal reliability, dimensionality, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and criterion validity. In general, both inventories perform well but the results raise interesting questions about the emotional versus rational structure of consumer involvement with financial services. The practical implications of the results for consumer research and the marketing of financial services are discussed.