Personal Involvement (PI) Inventory

Zaichowsky (1985) has defined involvement as the perceived relevance of an object based on
how well a product or service taps-into the inherent needs, values and interests of
consumers (i.e. what objects come to mean to us). The PI Inventory comprises 20 items
scored on a seven-point semantic differential scale for each item (as an example, take the
concept important through to unimportant allocating a rating of 7 for important and 1 for
unimportant). Scores on the items are summed to form an overall measure of involvement,
ranging from a low score of 20 (indicating a low involvement product) through to a high of
140 (indicating the highest level of involvement).
Instructions in the use of the PI Inventory
You would give instructions to respondents as follows:
The purpose of this study is to measure a persons involvement or interest in (name the
product category, brand, concept etc). To take this measure we need you to judge [insert
name of object] against a series of descriptive scales according to how YOU perceive the
product you will be shown. Here is how you use the scales:
If you feel that the product is very closely related to the end of one scale you should put your
checkmark as follows:
Unimportant --9---.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.----- Important
Unimportant -----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.--9--- Important
If you feel the product is quite closely related to one-or-other end of the scale (but not
extremely) you should place your checkmark as follows:
Unimportant -----.--9---.-----.-----.-----.-----.----- Important
Unimportant -----.-----.-----.-----.-----.--9---.----- Important
If you feel the [insert object name] seems only slightly related to one-or-other end of the
scale (but not neutral) you should place your checkmark as follows:
Unimportant -----.-----.--9---.-----.-----.-----.----- Important
Unimportant -----.-----.-----.-----.--9---.-----.----- Important

IMPORTANT
1. Be sure that you put a checkmark against every item (do not omit any items).
2. Never put more than one checkmark on a scale.
3. Make each item a separate and independent judgement. Do not worry or puzzle over
items. It is your first impressions (i.e. you immediate feelings about the item that we want).
However, try not to be careless about the items because we do want your true impressions.

Jenny Poolton PhD MBA BSc(Psychology) MBPS

Personal Involvement Inventory

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Indicates that items are reverse scored.

Items on the left are scored (1) low involvement to (7) high involvement.
Total of 20 items gives a score from a low of 20 to a high of 140.

Name of object to be judged:-------------------------------

important

-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----

unimportant**

of no concern

-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----

of concern

irrelevant

-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----

relevant

means a lot to me

-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----

means nothing to me**

useless

-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----

useful

valuable

-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----

worthless**

trivial

-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----

fundamental

beneficial

-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----

not beneficial**

matters to me

-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----

doesnt matter**

uninterested

-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----

interested

significant

-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----

insignificant**

vital

-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----

superfluous**

boring

-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----

interesting

unexciting

-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----

exciting

appealing

-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----

unappealing**

mundane

-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----

fascinating

essential

-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----

nonessential**

undesirable

-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----

desirable

wanted

-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----

unwanted**

not needed

-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----:-----

needed

Jenny Poolton PhD MBA BSc(Psychology) MBPS