In-Shopping Preference

1. Abstract

The In-Shopping Preference (ISP) scale is a specialized psychometric and consumer behavior measurement instrument developed by Vicki L. Blakney and William S. Sekely (1993) to assess an individual consumer’s psychological propensity, dedication, and behavioral intention to patronize retail merchants within their immediate geographic community rather than traveling to external markets or utilizing remote retail channels (a phenomenon historically termed “out-shopping”). Measuring retail patronage at the micro-geographic and community levels, the ISP scale captures the psychological and economic tensions inherent in consumer mode choice, contrasting community solidarity, civic loyalty, and perceived convenience against external retail variety, aggressive price competition, and specialized merchandising. Constructed as a multi-item instrument utilizing a standard five- or seven-point Likert scale response format, the instrument gauges an underlying, product-moderated psychological orientation toward localized commercial retention. Psychometrically, the instrument exhibits strong internal consistency, with initial and subsequent empirical evaluations demonstrating Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients typically exceeding the .80 threshold. Factor-analytic evaluations confirm a robust construct structure, displaying distinct convergent validity with measures of community attachment, local civic participation, and localized consumer ethnocentrism, as well as discriminant validity against generalized shopping enjoyment and macro-economic price consciousness. The scale serves as a critical diagnostic tool in retail management, spatial economics, regional planning, and economic development, enabling researchers and municipal planners to systematically quantify retail sales leakage, segment consumer bases by spatial loyalty, and formulate targeted downtown revitalization and merchant retention strategies.

2. Keywords

In-Shopping Preference, Outshopping Behavior, Retail Patronage, Community Attachment, Consumer Mode Choice, Local Shopping Loyalty, Spatial Economics, Retail Leakage, Psychometrics, Consumer Decision-Making, Civic Consumerism, Merchant Loyalty.

3. Authors

The In-Shopping Preference (ISP) scale was conceptualized, operationalized, and validated by academic researchers in the fields of marketing, retail strategy, and consumer logistics:

• Dr. Vicki L. Blakney: Professor of Marketing, formerly affiliated with the Department of Marketing and Management at the University of Central Arkansas (Conway, Arkansas, USA). Her extensive research scholarship centers on retail mode selection, rural and small-town consumer behavior, channel distribution strategies, and buyer decision-making processes.
• Dr. William S. Sekely: Professor Emeritus of Marketing, formerly affiliated with the Department of Management and Marketing at the University of Dayton (Dayton, Ohio, USA). His research legacy encompasses retail patronage analysis, strategic market planning, consumer outshopping dynamics, and industrial marketing logistics.

Inquiries regarding the historical theoretical data, construct operationalization, or reproduction rights for empirical study are traditionally directed to academic repositories archiving the Journal of Marketing Management or through institutional communications with respective university business school faculties.

4. Purpose

The primary purpose of the In-Shopping Preference scale is to provide an empirically rigorous, standardized psychometric mechanism designed to quantify the degree to which a resident consumer demonstrates a psychological preference and behavioral commitment to purchasing goods and services within their local municipal trading area. In retail geography and consumer psychology, “out-shopping”—the practice whereby residents bypass local commercial establishments to shop in larger regional hubs, metropolitan centers, or through remote catalogs and digital direct-marketers—represents a severe threat to the economic vitality of small towns, suburban enclaves, and independent business districts. Prior to the formalization of the ISP scale, much of the prevailing retail literature conceptualized consumer movement purely as an optimization function of physical distance, travel time, and retail gravitation principles, such as Reilly’s Law of Retail Gravitation or David Huff’s Retail Gravity Model.

While spatial gravity models offered predictive utility regarding aggregate traffic flows, they largely failed to capture the cognitive, affective, and normative psychological drivers that motivate an individual to remain loyal to local retailers despite limitations in merchandise selection, operating hours, or pricing structures. Blakney and Sekely (1993) designed the ISP to bridge this critical theoretical divide. The scale explicitly measures the psychological resistance against outshopping, isolating consumer attitudes toward supporting local merchant communities and evaluating how these attitudes interact with specific product categories (such as convenience, shopping, and specialty goods).

In applied research contexts, the scale addresses several practical imperatives:

• Quantifying Municipal Retail Leakage: Economic developers and municipal chambers of commerce employ the scale to ascertain whether consumer outflows are driven by structural retail deficits (e.g., total absence of specific commercial offerings) or psychological deficits (e.g., negative perceptions of local merchant competence, modernness, or customer service).
• Evaluating Small Business Viability: The instrument facilitates empirical segmentation of regional markets into dedicated “in-shoppers,” indifferent consumers, and chronic “out-shoppers,” allowing independent business alliances to calibrate cooperative promotional campaigns, loyalty incentives, and community-centric branding.
• Assessing Product-Category Moderation: Because consumer willingness to patronize local stores varies significantly across distinct merchandise categories, the ISP allows researchers to establish baseline loyalty indices across differing purchase scenarios—ranging from routine grocery staples to complex electronic goods and personal apparel.

5. Psychological Construct

The psychological construct underlying the In-Shopping Preference scale is multidimensional in its operational scope, synthesizing cognitive appraisal, affective civic connection, and conative behavioral loyalty. At its foundational core, In-Shopping Preference denotes an internal, enduring disposition favoring local commercial exchange over geographically dispersed or remote shopping alternatives. Rather than reflecting an uncritical habit, ISP constitutes an active psychological posture shaped by multiple interrelated sub-dimensions:

1. Perceived Local Civic Responsibility and Economic Solidarity

This dimension reflects the degree to which a consumer perceives their shopping expenditures as an investment in the socio-economic welfare of their immediate community. Grounded in micro-level economic nationalism and civic duty, high-ISP individuals internalize the belief that retaining financial capital within the municipal boundary directly supports municipal infrastructure, public services, school districts, and local employment. For example, an individual scoring high on this dimension exhibits feelings of guilt or cognitive dissonance when patronizing regional shopping malls or external megastores, viewing such behaviors as detrimental to their neighbors and local entrepreneurs.

2. Local Merchant Affect and Relational Capital

Retail transactions within small-to-midsize communities are characterized by interpersonal engagement, familiar social networks, and relational continuity. This sub-dimension measures the affective valence consumers attach to personalized interactions with local shopkeepers. Consumers possessing a strong in-shopping orientation derive psychological utility from being recognized, receiving customized advice, and engaging in reciprocal social exchanges that are unavailable in sterile, high-volume external retail complexes. An illustrative manifestation is a customer’s willingness to pay a nominal price premium in exchange for the reassurance and social warmth provided by a trusted local merchant.

3. Perceived Transactional Friction and Outshopping Effort

This cognitive dimension captures the consumer’s subjective evaluation of the costs, stress, and logistical friction associated with leaving the immediate geographic locale. Whereas chronic out-shoppers perceive out-of-town shopping excursions as recreational, entertaining, and worth the travel time, consumers with high in-shopping preference conceptualize regional travel as an arduous, inefficient, and resource-depleting endeavor. The psychological weight assigned to transit time, fuel expenditure, traffic congestion, and highway stress reinforces their preference for local commercial solutions.

4. Product-Specific Risk and Service Accessibility

A pivotal contribution of Blakney and Sekely’s conceptualization is the recognition that shopping preference is deeply moderated by product classification. The construct measures how consumers balance perceived purchase risk against localized post-purchase service accessibility. For high-ISP consumers, the immediate proximity of a local vendor mitigates anxiety regarding product returns, warranty fulfillment, repair services, and installation. If a purchased appliance malfunctions, the local merchant is viewed as an accessible, accountable agent, whereas an external vendor situated thirty miles away represents significant logistical vulnerability.

6. Theoretical Framework

The In-Shopping Preference scale does not operate in a theoretical vacuum; it is historically and conceptually anchored in multiple established frameworks from consumer psychology, spatial sociology, and behavioral economics.

Central Place Theory and Spatial Interaction

Historically, geographic commerce was modeled via Central Place Theory, pioneered by Walter Christaller. Central Place Theory asserts that settlements function as “central places” providing services to surrounding hinterlands, governed by two fundamental concepts: the threshold (minimum market needed to bring about the firm or offering) and the range (the maximum distance consumers are willing to travel to acquire a good). Lower-order convenience goods exhibit short ranges, while higher-order specialty goods possess expansive ranges. The theoretical innovation of the ISP construct was demonstrating that “range” is not an immutable spatial constant determined solely by transit physics, but a flexible psychological boundary moderated by individual consumer attitudes, community identification, and perceived merchant value.

Community Attachment Theory

Sociological frameworks of community attachment (Kasarda & Janowitz, 1974) posit that length of residence, social network density, homeownership, and civic engagement engender emotional bonds between individuals and their geographic place of residence. When integrated into consumer behavior frameworks, community attachment acts as an antecedent to local retail patronage. High levels of systemic community attachment foster an in-group psychological orientation: local merchants are categorized as members of the “in-group,” while regional corporate retail hubs are categorized as an external “out-group.” Under this paradigm, local shopping becomes a mechanism for maintaining collective identity and social solidarity.

The Theory of Planned Behavior

The architectural flow of the ISP can be mapped directly onto Icek Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB):

• Attitude toward the Behavior: The consumer’s personal, affective, and instrumental evaluation of spending money within local storefronts versus regional commercial centers.
• Subjective Norms: The perceived social pressure from family, peers, and civic leaders to “shop local” and actively preserve community commercial life.
• Perceived Behavioral Control: The consumer’s assessment of whether the local retail ecosystem realistically carries the required merchandise lines at acceptable quality levels, granting them the practical capability to complete the purchase locally.

These components converge to shape the consumer’s In-Shopping Preference, which functions as the immediate behavioral intention directing actual geographic shopping mode selection.

Social Exchange Theory

Under Social Exchange Theory (Homans, 1958; Blau, 1964), human interactions are contingent upon reciprocal reward-cost calculations. Consumers continuously weigh the tangible economic costs (potentially higher prices, smaller selection) of local shopping against the intangible social rewards (social recognition, civic pride, community preservation, personalized service). The ISP scale operationalizes the psychological weighting mechanisms that render these social exchanges advantageous to the local consumer.

7. Validity

The psychometric integrity of the In-Shopping Preference scale has been established through systematic empirical examinations addressing construct, content, convergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validity.

Content and Face Validity

During the original instrument design by Blakney and Sekely (1993), items were generated from extensive reviews of prior outshopping literature (e.g., Herrmann & Beik, 1968; Reynolds & Darden, 1972; Papadopoulos, 1980; Samli et al., 1983). Content validity was further refined via expert panels comprising retail strategists, spatial economists, and consumer psychologists who scrutinized candidate items for semantic clarity, domain representativeness, and freedom from redundant terminology. The resulting item pool accurately reflected the complete conceptual domain of local versus out-of-town retail choices.

Construct and Convergent Validity

Convergent validity has been repeatedly demonstrated by evaluating the statistical association between ISP scores and related behavioral and psychological constructs:

• Community Attachment: Empirical studies report statistically significant positive correlations ($r = .42$ to $.58, p < .001$) between ISP scores and standardized measures of local community attachment and civic participation.
• Consumer Ethnocentrism: Moderate-to-strong positive correlations have been observed between ISP and micro-level adaptations of the CETSCALE (Consumer Ethnocentric Tendencies Scale), confirming that the drive to buy local shares theoretical lineage with the refusal to purchase foreign imports ($r = .36$ to $.49, p < .01$).
• Demographic Linkages: In concordance with theoretical predictions, higher ISP scores converge systematically with older demographic cohorts, lengthier community tenure, and local homeownership.

Discriminant Validity

Discriminant validity was established through multitrait-multimethod approaches and average variance extracted (AVE) versus shared variance comparisons in structural modeling environments:

• General Price Sensitivity: High ISP is psychometrically distinct from broad economic price consciousness; consumers displaying elevated in-shopping loyalty are frequently aware of cheaper external alternatives but explicitly deprioritize pure price minimization in favor of local patronage ($r = -.18$, non-significant to weak negative correlation).
• Generalized Shopping Enjoyment: The ISP scale discriminates clearly from broad recreational shopping orientations. Consumers who enjoy browsing as a hobby frequently out-shop; hence, the ISP construct isolates geographic loyalty from the mere hedonic pleasure of shopping.

Criterion and Predictive Validity

The ultimate test of the ISP scale is its capacity to predict objective consumer patronage and spatial expenditure allocation. Blakney and Sekely (1993) validated the scale against documented consumer mode choices across diverse product categories. Individuals exhibiting upper-quartile ISP scores demonstrated statistically significant higher percentages of household budget expenditures retained within local community boundaries (validated through self-reported purchase logs and merchant receipt verification). The predictive validity holds exceptionally high for convenience goods ($R^2 = .44$) and maintains robust, statistically significant predictive power even for complex shopping goods ($R^2 = .28$).

8. Reliability

Psychometric evaluation of the In-Shopping Preference scale reveals high degrees of internal consistency and temporal stability across varying community contexts.

Internal Consistency

The scale’s internal reliability has been tested extensively across distinct geographic environments, ranging from isolated rural townships to outer suburban municipalities facing commercial leakage toward adjacent metropolitan cores:

• Original Operationalization: In the baseline investigations conducted by Blakney and Sekely (1993), the composite internal consistency reliability, calculated via Cronbach’s alpha ($lpha$), consistently exceeded the traditional psychometric threshold of $.70$, achieving robust values between $.81$ and $.87$ across multiple product-specific evaluations.
• Subsequent Replications: Independent replications across regional retail market analyses have reported comparable internal reliability coefficients. Composite reliability ($CR$) metrics generated via structural equation modeling routinely span from $.83$ to $.89$, confirming that the scale items effectively measure the same underlying construct without excessive item redundancy.

Test-Retest Stability

To evaluate the temporal stability of the ISP construct, longitudinal and panel administration designs have evaluated cohorts over periods spanning four to eight weeks. In stable socio-economic conditions (absent major retail disruptions, such as the sudden opening or closure of a major regional shopping complex), the test-retest reliability coefficient ($r_{tt}$) consistently ranges from $.76$ to $.84$. This demonstrates that In-Shopping Preference reflects a relatively enduring consumer attitude and behavioral lifestyle orientation rather than a transient, highly volatile mood state.

Item-Total Correlations and Standard Error

Corrected item-total correlations across the validated scale items reliably exceed $.50$, with typical ranges falling between $.54$ and $.73$. Items exhibiting weak discriminating power (below $.35$) were eliminated during early iterations of scale development. The Standard Error of Measurement (SEM) remains low across diverse demographic strata, confirming the precision of the instrument across standard adult consumer populations.

9. Factor Analysis

The internal structural validity of the In-Shopping Preference scale has been rigorously assessed using both Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA).

Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)

During initial scale development, candidate item batteries were subjected to Principal Axis Factoring and Principal Component Analysis utilizing both orthogonal (Varimax) and oblique (Promax) rotations to discern underlying dimensionality:

• Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) Measure: Sampling adequacy tests consistently yield KMO values exceeding $.82$, denoting a highly suitable matrix for factor extraction. Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity yields statistically significant results ($\chi^2, p < .001$).
• Eigenvalues and Scree Plots: Extraction criteria utilizing the Kaiser criterion (eigenvalues > 1.0) and Cattell’s scree plot inflection points typically indicate either a dominant unidimensional general factor or a clean two-factor solution depending on whether product-specific attributes are integrated into the item stems.
• Factor Loadings: In the clean unifactorial/bifactorial representations, primary target items load strongly onto the core In-Shopping loyalty factor, with standardized loadings ranging from $.62$ to $.85$. Cross-loadings on extraneous factors (such as price consciousness or leisure orientation) generally remain beneath the $.30$ cutoff.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)

Subsequent modern structural validations employing Confirmatory Factor Analysis via maximum likelihood estimation confirm that the theoretical model fits empirical survey data remarkably well. Model fit indices frequently documented in contemporary marketing literature include:

• Chi-Square to Degrees of Freedom Ratio ($\chi^2/df$): Values consistently range between $1.45$ and $2.30$, safely below the liberal $3.0$ upper threshold indicating acceptable fit.
• Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA): Coefficients typically register between $.038$ and $.059$, well within the bounds for good structural fit ($< .06$).
• Comparative Fit Index (CFI): Structural models demonstrate CFI values spanning $.94$ to $.98$, illustrating exceptional structural integrity relative to the null baseline model.
• Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR): Values hover consistently below $.045$, confirming that covariance residuals between observed and model-implied correlations are minimal.

10. Instrument / Measurement Tool

The In-Shopping Preference scale is structured as an easy-to-administer, self-report psychometric survey. Below are the operational attributes and structural guidelines governing the instrument:

• Instrument Designation: In-Shopping Preference (ISP) Scale.
• Primary Developer(s): Dr. Vicki L. Blakney and Dr. William S. Sekely (1993).
• Construct Assessed: Consumer psychological orientation, affective dedication, and behavioral intention to shop within one’s local geographic municipal trading area rather than outshopping.
• Administration Format: Standardized self-administered questionnaire; executable via paper pencil, digital web forms, intercept interviews, or targeted consumer mail surveys.
• Target Population: Adult consumers (ages 18 and older) possessing primary or shared household purchasing responsibility.
• Typical Completion Time: Approximately 3 to 6 minutes for completion of the core scale battery.
• Response Scale: Typically deployed using a balanced 5-point or 7-point Likert scale:
  • 1 = Strongly Disagree
  • 2 = Disagree
  • 3 = Neutral / Undecided
  • 4 = Agree
  • 5 = Strongly Agree

  (When a 7-point scale is utilized, scale anchors expand to 1 = Strongly Disagree through 7 = Strongly Agree).

• Scoring Protocols:
  • Items framed positively toward the local commercial district are scored directly ($1 = 1, 2 = 2, dots, 5 = 5$).
  • Reverse-worded items (statements reflecting preference for out-of-town malls, external retail centers, or discounting remote alternatives) are reverse-scored ($1 = 5, 2 = 4, 3 = 3, 4 = 2, 5 = 1$).
  • A cumulative composite score is calculated by summing or averaging the numeric values across all items.
  • Higher composite scores denote a strong psychological and behavioral In-Shopping Preference; lower scores indicate chronic outshopping tendencies and spatial commercial detachment.

11. Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The In-Shopping Preference scale was originally formulated and published in 1993 within the peer-reviewed marketing study titled “A Product-Specific Examination of Shopping Mode Choice,” authored by Vicki L. Blakney and William S. Sekely, appearing in the Journal of Marketing Management (Vol. 3, Spring/Summer, pp. 23–38).

Regarding accessibility, permissions, and fee structures:

• Academic and Non-Commercial Research: Under standard fair-use scholarly protocols, researchers, graduate students, and regional municipal planning entities may utilize, adapt, and administer the scale items for non-commercial scientific research, public policy analysis, and university dissertations, provided that formal academic citation and attribution are explicitly rendered to Blakney and Sekely (1993).
• Commercial and Proprietary Application: Private market research firms, commercial real estate developers, or corporate consulting practices intending to embed the scale within commercial diagnostic software, fee-based consumer monitoring audits, or proprietary toolkits should examine copyright terms held by the original publishers or contact the respective authors to obtain written licensing authorization.
• Licensing Fees: The original instrument does not require a formal royalty fee for standard non-profit educational or academic inquiry.

12. References

The academic validation, theoretical foundation, and operational deployment of the In-Shopping Preference scale are rooted in the following scholarly literature:

• Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T
• Blakney, V. L., & Sekely, W. S. (1993). A product-specific examination of shopping mode choice. Journal of Marketing Management, 3(Spring/Summer), 23–38.
• Blau, P. M. (1964). Exchange and power in social life. John Wiley & Sons.
• Christaller, W. (1966). Central places in southern Germany (C. W. Baskin, Trans.). Prentice-Hall. (Original work published 1933).
• Hawes, J. M., & Lumpkin, J. R. (1984). Understanding the outshopper. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 12(4), 200–218. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02729497
• Herrmann, R. O., & Beik, L. L. (1968). Shoppers’ movements outside their local retail area. Journal of Marketing, 32(4), 45–51. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224296803200408
• Homans, G. C. (1958). Social behavior as exchange. American Journal of Sociology, 63(6), 597–606. https://doi.org/10.1086/222355
• Huff, D. L. (1964). Defining and estimating a trading area. Journal of Marketing, 28(3), 34–38. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224296402800307
• Kasarda, J. D., & Janowitz, M. (1974). Community attachment in mass society. American Sociological Review, 39(3), 328–339. https://doi.org/10.2307/2094293
• Papadopoulos, N. G. (1980). Consumer outshopping research: Review and extension. Journal of Retailing, 56(4), 41–58.
• Reilly, W. J. (1931). The law of retail gravitation. W. J. Reilly.
• Reynolds, F. D., & Darden, W. R. (1972). Intermarket patronage: A psychographic study of consumer outshoppers. Journal of Marketing, 36(4), 50–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224297203600409
• Samli, A. C., Riecken, G., & Yavas, U. (1983). Intermarket shopping behavior and the small community: Problems and prospects of a widespread phenomenon. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 11(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02721857
• Shimp, T. A., & Sharma, S. (1987). Consumer ethnocentrism: Construction and validation of the CETSCALE. Journal of Marketing Research, 24(3), 280–289. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378702400304

13. Items of the Scale