Cognitive dissonance after purchase: A multidimensional scale

The concept of cognitive dissonance has been discussed widely in the consum er behavior literature, yet paradoxically, there is no well established sca le to measure it. This article describes the development of a 22-item scale for assessing cognitive dissonance immediately after purchase. First, the article discusses the conceptualization of the construct, recognizing that dissonance is not only cognitive in nature, but also has an emotional compo nent, consistent with Festinger's early description of dissonance as a psyc hologically uncomfortable state. The procedures used to develop and refine the scale are subsequently described. This included a qualitative study to generate the items and two samples for each stage of the quantitative stage s of scale refinement. Evidence of the scale's sound psychometric propertie s, including its reliability, validity and factor structure is given. (C) 2 000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.