Toward a new scale to measure consumers’ “need for uniqueness” in foods and beverages: The 31-item FBNFU scale

Abstract

We developed a new Food and Beverage Need for Uniqueness (FBNFU) scale to measure a personality construct postulated to underlie consumers’ predilection for unique foods and beverages. This 31-item scale was constructed to parallel a multifactorial scale used in psychology to measure the general construct of consumers’ need for uniqueness (CNFU) (Tian, Bearden, & Hunter, 2001). The FBNFU and general CNFU scales were internet-tested with 576 respondents in the US and China. The FBNFU scale had high internal consistency and a similar mean and distribution of scores as the CNFU scale in both countries. Convergent and discriminant validity of the FBNFU scale was demonstrated through comparisons with other consumer scales of need for uniqueness and food-related traits. The predictive validity of the FBNFU was assessed in two central location tests with 618 New Zealand consumers to assess whether high vs. low FBNFU consumers differ in their perceptual, hedonic, cognitive, emotional, or conative responses to food names of varying novelty/uniqueness. The FBNFU scale had high predictive validity for assessing consumer responses. High FBNFU respondents perceived novel/unique food names as less different in novelty/uniqueness and higher in expected liking, positive emotions, willingness to eat and appropriateness for use in a wide variety of situations than low FBNFU respondents. The new FBNFU scale can be used in conjunction with other trait measures (e.g., neophobia, variety seeking, food involvement) to better understand the varied factors that underlie consumer behaviour toward foods and beverages.