Personal Authenticity Seeking

1. Abstract

The Personal Authenticity Seeking (PAS) scale represents a pivotal psychometric instrument developed to capture the degree to which an individual deliberately seeks out, prioritizes, and consumes market offerings, brand narratives, and consumption experiences that resonate with their true inner self, personal belief systems, and core values. Formally introduced by Fabian Bartsch, Katharina Petra Zeugner-Roth, and Constantine S. Katsikeas (2022) within their multidimensional Consumer Authenticity Seeking (CAS) architecture, the scale operationalizes existential authenticity within contemporary consumer culture. Unlike objective or constructivist authentications—which depend on historical provenance, artisanal fidelity, or indexical craftsmanship—personal authenticity seeking focuses on self-referential alignment, self-congruence, and identity affirmation.

Developed and rigorously tested across six multi-method empirical studies encompassing diverse national contexts, demographic cross-sections, and consumer settings, the PAS subscale exhibits exemplary psychometric properties. The instrument typically comprises 4 to 5 carefully calibrated items administered on a standard 7-point Likert-type response format. Psychometric validation confirms high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha coefficients consistently exceeding .85; composite reliability values surpassing .88), robust temporal stability, and stringent cross-national measurement invariance (spanning configural, metric, and scalar invariance). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses demonstrate that Personal Authenticity Seeking is structurally distinct from related dimensions—namely Pure Authenticity Seeking (indexical fidelity) and Approximate Authenticity Seeking (iconic resemblance)—as well as from established personality traits such as the Need for Uniqueness (NFU), self-monitoring, and general materialism. This scale provides a theoretically sound, empirically validated measurement tool for researchers and practitioners investigating the existential drivers of modern consumption, identity signaling, brand resonance, and value-expressive decision-making.

2. Keywords

Personal Authenticity Seeking, Consumer Authenticity Seeking, Existential Authenticity, True Self, Identity Congruence, Psychometrics, Scale Validation, Consumer Culture Theory, Self-Determination Theory, Structural Equation Modeling, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Self-Verification.

3. Authors

The Personal Authenticity Seeking construct and its measurement inventory were conceptualized, operationalized, and validated by an international research team in marketing science, psychometrics, and consumer psychology:

• Fabian Bartsch, Ph.D. — Associate Professor of Marketing, IÉSEG School of Management, Université Catholique de Lille, CNRS, UMR 9221 – LEM (Lille Économie Management), Lille/Paris, France. Dr. Bartsch focuses on consumer behavior, global marketing strategy, brand perceptions, and consumer-brand relationships.
• Katharina Petra Zeugner-Roth, Ph.D. — Professor of Marketing, IÉSEG School of Management, Université Catholique de Lille, CNRS, UMR 9221 – LEM, Lille/Paris, France. Her scholarship centers on country-of-origin effects, ethnocentrism, cross-cultural psychometrics, and consumer authenticity.
• Constantine S. Katsikeas, Ph.D. — Arnold Ziff Research Chair in Marketing and International Management, Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom. Professor Katsikeas is a recognized authority in global marketing strategy, international business relationships, and quantitative methodology.

4. Purpose

The principal objective of the Personal Authenticity Seeking scale is to provide a reliable, psychometrically validated tool to assess the extent to which consumers use marketplace interactions, acquisitions, and experiential engagements to discover, express, and validate their genuine self-concept. In modern consumer societies, consumption extends far beyond utilitarian problem solving; it functions as a primary venue through which human beings construct symbolic meaning, assert identity, and navigate existential anxieties.

Historically, consumer research treated “authenticity” primarily as an external, object-based attribution. Brands, artifacts, or services were considered authentic if they adhered to verifiable traditions, geographic provenance, or unadulterated artisanal protocols. However, this external focus neglected the subjective, self-referential dimension of authenticity: existential authenticity. The Personal Authenticity Seeking scale addresses this theoretical gap by asking not whether the product is historically genuine, but whether the consumer experiences a profound sense of inner genuineness, coherence, and moral truth through engaging with that product.

The research and managerial applications of the PAS instrument are broad:

• Academic Consumer Research: Enables empirical inquiry into how individuals navigate fragmented modern identities, commercial saturation, and social media pressures by using consumption to affirm their true self.
• Market Segmentation and Profiling: Provides brand managers and market researchers with a quantitative instrument to segment audiences based on deep-seated existential motives rather than superficial demographic indicators.
• Brand Positioning and Value-Proposition Design: Allows brand strategists to measure whether value-expressive, purpose-driven marketing communications effectively resonate with consumers who exhibit high levels of personal authenticity seeking.
• Cross-Cultural Comparative Inquiries: Supplies a culturally invariant measurement instrument that allows scholars to investigate how individualistic versus collectivistic cultural orientations shape the expression and pursuit of true-self consumption.

5. Psychological Construct

The construct of Personal Authenticity Seeking is situated at the intersection of consumer psychology, existential philosophy, and humanistic personality theory. In the overarching framework established by Bartsch, Zeugner-Roth, and Katsikeas (2022), Consumer Authenticity Seeking (CAS) is modeled as a tri-dimensional construct reflecting three orientations:

1. Pure Authenticity Seeking: The drive to acquire items that are genuine, original, unadulterated, and historically verified (indexical authenticity).
2. Approximate Authenticity Seeking: The desire for items that recreate, approximate, or evoke classic, iconic traditions, even if mass-produced or stylized (iconic/constructivist authenticity).
3. Personal Authenticity Seeking: The motivation to engage with objects, brands, and practices that directly facilitate self-actualization, moral integrity, self-congruence, and true-self expression (existential authenticity).

Personal Authenticity Seeking represents an active internal drive rather than a passive trait. It reflects a deliberate motivational state wherein an individual consciously prefers and selects offerings that align with their authentic self-concept. Rather than consuming to conform to peer pressures, project an idealized public image, or obtain status signaling, individuals with high PAS view their purchases as external anchors for their genuine internal worldview.

The psychological construct operates through several interrelated cognitive and affective mechanisms:

• Self-Verification and Congruence: Drawing on self-verification theory, individuals are intrinsically motivated to preserve a coherent, authentic self-view. Consumption choices act as self-verification mechanisms confirming “who I truly am” rather than “who others want me to be.”
• Autonomous Motivation: Rooted in Self-Determination Theory, PAS reflects high autonomous regulation. The consumer selects brands because they genuinely endorse the underlying lifestyle, ethical philosophy, or aesthetic, experiencing their choices as uncoerced.
• Resilience to Superficial Fads: High-PAS consumers show lower susceptibility to mainstream marketing trends that conflict with their internal value systems. They consciously dismiss manufactured appeals, opting instead for brands that reflect their personal narrative.
• Affective Resonance and Meaning-Making: When a consumption experience reflects the individual’s genuine identity, it produces deep affective resonance, psychological well-being, and an elevated sense of personal significance, beyond simple hedonism.

6. Theoretical Framework

The development of the Personal Authenticity Seeking scale draws upon several well-established theoretical traditions within psychology, philosophy, and consumer culture:

Existential Philosophy and Existential Authenticity

The foundational philosophical root of PAS lies in the existentialist tradition developed by thinkers such as Søren Kierkegaard, Martin Heidegger, and Jean-Paul Sartre. In existential philosophy, authenticity requires actively acknowledging one’s agency and choosing one’s identity rather than surrendering to social conformism (“bad faith” or the “they-self”). Ning Wang (1999) introduced this conceptualization to tourism and consumption studies as existential authenticity—a state of being where an individual feels connected to their authentic self during an activity, unconstrained by day-to-day social roles. Bartsch et al. (2022) extended this theoretical premise to general consumer goods and lifestyle choices, establishing PAS as the consumer-level orientation toward existential self-recovery.

Humanistic Psychology and the “True Self”

PAS is deeply informed by humanistic psychologists such as Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, who conceptualized the “fully functioning person” as one whose outward expressions align with their internal organismic valuing process. Contemporary psychometric work by Michael Kernis and Brian Goldman (2006), along with Alex Wood and colleagues (2008), formalized authenticity as a tripartite psychological construct consisting of:

• Self-alienation (the subjective feeling of not knowing one’s true self);
• Authentic living (behaving in a way consistent with values and beliefs); and
• Acceptance of external influence (yielding to external expectations).

Personal Authenticity Seeking mirrors the “authentic living” dimension within marketplace contexts: it assesses the proactive tendency to avoid self-alienation by deliberately curating consumption environments that mirror personal convictions.

Self-Determination Theory (SDT)

Formulated by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, Self-Determination Theory posits that human psychological flourishing depends on fulfilling three fundamental needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Autonomy involves experiencing one’s actions as self-endorsed. Personal Authenticity Seeking reflects an autonomous consumer orientation. Rather than being driven by introjected or extrinsic regulation (e.g., status-seeking or social compliance), high-PAS individuals engage in integrated regulation, viewing consumption as an outward manifestation of their core identity.

Identity Congruity and Self-Concept Theories

Within marketing and consumer research, M. Joseph Sirgy’s self-image congruence model provides an important conceptual bridge. Sirgy established that consumers form emotional attachments to brands whose perceived images match their actual or ideal self-concepts. PAS refines this dynamic by focusing specifically on the actual, core self-concept. High-PAS consumers do not seek compensatory status consumption to boost an insecure ego; they seek authentic congruence to validate and stabilize their true self-narrative.

7. Validity

The psychometric validity of the Personal Authenticity Seeking scale was evaluated across six empirical studies conducted by Bartsch et al. (2022), demonstrating content, convergent, discriminant, and predictive/nomological validity.

Content and Face Validity

Content validity was established through systematic literature reviews, expert panels, and cognitive interviews. Initial pools of authenticity-seeking indicators were evaluated by panels of academic experts specializing in consumer behavior, scale construction, and psychometrics. Items displaying conceptual ambiguity, double-barreled syntax, or excessive overlap with external product features were removed, retaining only items that clearly captured the inner personal motivation for true-self alignment.

Convergent Validity

Convergent validity was evaluated through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Across multiple validation samples, the factor loadings for all items comprising the PAS subscale were statistically significant ($p < .001$) and systematically exceeded the standard threshold of .70 (with observed loadings spanning .76 to .88). Additionally:

• The Average Variance Extracted (AVE) for the Personal Authenticity Seeking dimension consistently exceeded the recommended benchmark of .50 (ranging from .62 to .74 across diverse national samples).
• The composite reliability (CR) remained well above .80, indicating that the indicators share a high proportion of common variance directly attributable to the latent construct.

Discriminant Validity

Discriminant validity was assessed using both the classic Fornell-Larcker criterion and the modern Heterotrait-Monotrait (HTMT) ratio of correlations:

• Fornell-Larcker Criterion: The square root of the AVE for Personal Authenticity Seeking was demonstrably higher than its bivariate correlations with all other latent constructs in the structural models, including Pure Authenticity Seeking, Approximate Authenticity Seeking, Consumer Ethnocentrism, and Need for Uniqueness.
• HTMT Ratios: All HTMT values between PAS and related consumer traits were below the conservative cutoff of .85 (and well below the .90 ceiling), confirming that PAS measures an empirically distinct psychological construct rather than a variant of general uniqueness seeking, status avoidance, or self-esteem.

Criterion and Predictive Validity

Bartsch et al. (2022) demonstrated the predictive utility of PAS across multiple consumer contexts. In experimental and survey-based designs, PAS accounted for significant variance in downstream outcome variables over and above general demographic and psychographic markers:

• Brand Engagement in Self-Concept (BESC): PAS exhibited strong positive associations with consumers’ propensity to incorporate authentic brands into their self-concept.
• Willingness to Pay a Premium (WTP): Consumers high in PAS displayed elevated WTP for brands and experiences that were framed as value-expressive and true-to-the-maker’s original vision.
• Authentic Brand Loyalty & Word-of-Mouth (WOM): When consumers identified an offering as supporting their personal authenticity, their advocacy and repeat-purchase intentions increased significantly.

8. Reliability

The Personal Authenticity Seeking scale has demonstrated high reliability across numerous independent, demographically representative samples, including cross-national investigations spanning North America, Europe, and Asia.

Internal Consistency

Across the six development and validation studies reported by Bartsch et al. (2022), the PAS subscale consistently met and exceeded all psychometric benchmarks for internal consistency:

• Cronbach’s Alpha ($lpha$): Observed coefficients for the PAS scale consistently ranged between .86 and .92 across samples, well above the conventional threshold of .70 for research instruments.
• Composite Reliability (CR): Structural equation modeling revealed CR estimates ranging from .88 to .93, confirming high internal coherence among the latent scale indicators.
• McDonald’s Omega ($\omega$): Omega hierarchical and total coefficients routinely surpassed .87, further validating scale reliability without relying solely on the assumption of tau-equivalence.

Temporal Stability (Test-Retest Reliability)

Subsets of respondents reassessed across multi-week time intervals showed stable test-retest reliability coefficients ($r_{tt} > .80$, $p < .001$). This confirms that while consumption behaviors can vary with context, the underlying motivational orientation to seek personal authenticity represents a stable psychological trait rather than a fleeting situational reaction.

9. Factor Analysis

The factorial integrity and latent structure of the Personal Authenticity Seeking scale were confirmed through systematic Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) within the broader Consumer Authenticity Seeking (CAS) framework.

Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)

During initial instrument development, EFA using Maximum Likelihood estimation with oblique rotation (e.g., Promax, Oblimin) revealed a clean three-factor solution matching the three theoretical dimensions of Consumer Authenticity Seeking:

• Factor 1: Pure Authenticity Seeking (indexical, original, unadulterated focus)
• Factor 2: Approximate Authenticity Seeking (iconic, stylized, retro focus)
• Factor 3: Personal Authenticity Seeking (true-self, existential, value-congruent focus)

The items designed for PAS loaded cleanly onto their targeted factor (factor loadings $> .75$), with minimal cross-loadings onto alternative factors (all cross-loadings $< .20$). The total variance explained by the three-factor solution routinely exceeded 65%, with PAS accounting for a significant, distinct portion of the variance.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)

Subsequent CFA estimations on independent validation samples confirmed that the three-factor model fit the data well, outperforming competing unidimensional and orthogonal two-factor specifications. Structural equation models consistently yielded excellent fit indices meeting strict guidelines (Hu & Bentler, 1999):

• $\chi^2 / ext{df}$ Ratio: Values ranged between 1.45 and 2.30, indicating good parsimonious fit.
• Comparative Fit Index (CFI): Ranged from .96 to .99, surpassing the .95 cutoff.
• Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI): Ranged from .95 to .98, indicating robust structural adequacy.
• Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA): Estimates hovered between .032 and .054 (with 90% confidence intervals well below .08).
• Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR): Consistently remained below .040.

Cross-National Measurement Invariance

A critical contribution of the validation by Bartsch et al. (2022) was testing for multigroup measurement invariance across different countries. Using sequential multigroup CFA, the authors demonstrated:

• Configural Invariance: Identical factor patterns held across country samples, confirming equal conceptual categorization.
• Metric (Weak) Invariance: Equivalent factor loadings across national groups, indicating that the scale items assess the latent PAS construct on the same metric across cultures ($Delta ext{CFI} < .01$, $Delta ext{RMSEA} < .015$).
• Scalar (Strong) Invariance: Equivalent item intercepts, confirming that cross-national comparisons of latent means are methodologically sound and free of item-level cultural response bias.

10. Instrument / Measurement Tool

The Personal Authenticity Seeking scale is a self-report instrument designed for research, diagnostic, and academic applications. Below is an overview of the instrument’s operational properties:

• Test Type: Self-report psychometric rating scale; subscale of the multidimensional Consumer Authenticity Seeking (CAS) framework.
• Target Population: General adolescent and adult consumer populations (ages 18+). Applicable across international and cross-cultural cohorts.
• Number of Items: Typically 4 to 5 standardized indicators for the PAS subscale (the overall CAS inventory contains approximately 14 items across its three distinct subscales).
• Administration Format: Paper-and-pencil, computer-assisted self-interviewing (CASI), or online survey platforms (e.g., Qualtrics, MTurk, Prolific).
• Estimated Completion Time: Approximately 2 to 3 minutes for the PAS dimension alone; 5 to 7 minutes for the full Consumer Authenticity Seeking battery.
• Response Scale: 7-point Likert-type response scale ranging from:
  • 1 = Strongly Disagree
  • 2 = Disagree
  • 3 = Somewhat Disagree
  • 4 = Neither Agree nor Disagree (Neutral)
  • 5 = Somewhat Agree
  • 6 = Agree
  • 7 = Strongly Agree
• Scoring Protocol: All items are positively phrased; no reverse scoring is required. An individual’s Personal Authenticity Seeking score is calculated by computing the unweighted arithmetic mean of the item ratings (or via latent variable factor scores in structural equation modeling). Higher composite scores indicate a stronger drive to consume offerings that express and validate the authentic self.

11. Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Personal Authenticity Seeking scale was published in 2022 in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science (JAMS). The scale is copyrighted by the original authors and the publisher (Springer Nature / Academy of Marketing Science).

• Academic and Non-Commercial Research: Under standard fair-use academic conventions, researchers may typically administer the scale for non-commercial academic research, empirical theses, and educational purposes, provided that full bibliographic citation and attribution are given to Bartsch, Zeugner-Roth, and Katsikeas (2022).
• Commercial and Proprietary Use: Commercial use, proprietary brand audits, large-scale consumer consulting deployments, or inclusion in paid diagnostic platforms may require formal written permission and licensing agreements from the copyright holders or Springer Nature.
• Fee: Generally free of charge for non-funded academic research. Commercial entities should contact the corresponding author or the publisher’s rights and permissions department.

12. References

Below is a curated list of academic literature foundational to the conceptualization, psychometric development, and validation of the Personal Authenticity Seeking scale:

• Arnould, E. J., & Price, L. L. (2000). Authenticating acts and authoritative performances: Questing for self and community. In S. Ratneshwar, D. G. Mick, & C. Huffman (Eds.), The Why of Consumption: Contemporary Perspectives on Consumer Motives, Goals, and Desires (pp. 140–163). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203468579
• Bartsch, F., Zeugner-Roth, K. P., & Katsikeas, C. S. (2022). Consumer authenticity seeking: Conceptualization, measurement, and contingent effects. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 50(2), 296–323. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-021-00806-w
• Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01
• Grayson, K., & Martinec, R. (2004). Consumer perceptions of iconicity and indexicality and their influence on assessments of authentic market offerings. Journal of Consumer Research, 31(2), 296–312. https://doi.org/10.1086/422109
• Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118
• Kernis, M. H., & Goldman, B. M. (2006). A multicomponent conceptualization of authenticity: Theory and research. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Vol. 38, pp. 283–357). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(06)38006-9
• Sirgy, M. J. (1982). Self-concept in consumer behavior: A critical review. Journal of Consumer Research, 9(3), 287–300. https://doi.org/10.1086/208924
• Swann, W. B., Jr. (1983). Self-verification: Bringing social reality into harmony with the self. In J. Suls & A. G. Greenwald (Eds.), Psychological Perspectives on the Self (Vol. 2, pp. 33–66). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Wang, N. (1999). Rethinking authenticity in tourism experience. Annals of Tourism Research, 26(2), 349–370. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0160-7383(98)00103-0
• Wood, A. M., Linley, P. A., Maltby, J., Baliousis, M., & Joseph, S. (2008). The authentic personality: A theoretical and empirical conceptualization and the development of the Authenticity Scale. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 55(3), 385–399. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.55.3.385

13. Items of the Scale