Product As an Undue Privilege

1. Abstract

The Product As an Undue Privilege scale is a specialized psychometric instrument developed by Dafna Goor, Nailya Ordabayeva, Anat Keinan, and Sandrine Crener (2020) to capture consumers’ psychological discomfort when consuming status-laden and premium luxury goods. Rooted in consumer psychology and the broader literature on the impostor phenomenon, the scale operationalizes the subjective perception that using or wearing a high-end product represents an unwarranted, unearned, or illegitimate personal advantage. Composed of 3 tightly focused self-report items administered on a 7-point Likert scale (ranging from 1 = Strongly disagree to 7 = Strongly agree), the instrument demonstrates high internal consistency (Cronbach’s α typically exceeding .88 across diverse empirical samples) and robust unidimensionality.

The scale plays a pivotal role in consumer behavior research by explaining why luxury consumption can paradoxicality backfire. Rather than fostering elevated self-esteem or authentic prestige, luxury items can elicit feelings of inauthenticity and self-doubt among consumers who do not chronically identify as privileged or entitled elites. Empirical research substantiates the scale’s construct, convergent, discriminant, and predictive validities, confirming that perceptions of undue privilege mediate the relationship between luxury consumption and reduced product enjoyment, heightened self-directed negative affect, behavioral hesitation, and compensatory modesty. This article provides a comprehensive psychometric review of the instrument, outlining its theoretical underpinnings, empirical validation, statistical properties, administrative guidelines, and practical implications for luxury marketing and clinical consumer research.

2. Keywords

Product As an Undue Privilege, luxury consumption, impostor phenomenon, consumer impostor syndrome, perceived privilege, consumer psychology, authentic self-identity, status signaling, psychometrics, luxury retail, inauthenticity

3. Authors

The Product As an Undue Privilege scale was developed and validated by an international team of scholars in marketing and consumer behavior:

• Dafna Goor, Ph.D. — Assistant Professor of Marketing, London Business School, London, United Kingdom. Her research focuses on consumer behavior, luxury branding, social identity, and symbolic consumption. (Email: [email protected])
• Nailya Ordabayeva, Ph.D. — Associate Professor of Marketing, Carroll School of Management, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, United States. Her expertise spans social hierarchy, economic inequality, status consumption, and marketplace fairness. (Email: [email protected])
• Anat Keinan, Ph.D. — Associate Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School, Boston, MA, United States. She specializes in luxury consumption, consumer well-being, experiential marketing, and time perception. (Email: [email protected])
• Sandrine Crener, MBA — Program Director and Luxury Marketing Researcher, Harvard Business School, Boston, MA, United States. Her professional expertise encompasses retail strategy, brand management, and executive education in luxury sectors.

4. Purpose

Historically, classical economic and sociological paradigms, such as Thorstein Veblen’s theory of conspicuous consumption, posited that luxury products serve primarily to elevate social rank, communicate wealth, and bolster subjective well-being. Modern marketing theory has similarly operated on the premise that consuming prestigious brands elicits positive emotional states, such as pride, sophisticated aesthetic enjoyment, and heightened self-worth. However, emerging empirical inquiries reveal that luxury consumption frequently generates negative emotional and psychological side effects. The primary purpose of the Product As an Undue Privilege scale is to identify, quantify, and dissect the underlying psychological mechanism responsible for this paradoxical phenomenon: the subjective experience of feeling like an impostor while utilizing luxury goods.

In contemporary consumer societies, luxury goods are heavily democratized, reaching aspirational, middle-income, and non-affluent consumers who purchase designer accessories, high-performance vehicles, or premium experiences. For many of these consumers, possessing an overtly expensive or elite product induces an acute sense of self-incongruence. Rather than feeling genuinely successful, individuals may experience the product as an illegitimate, unearned privilege that deviates from their authentic personal narrative. The scale provides scholars and practitioners with a targeted, empirically rigorous metric to assess this specific internal tension.

The clinical and behavioral research applications of the scale are diverse:

• Mechanistic Mediation in Consumer Behavior: The scale enables researchers to statistically isolate undue privilege perceptions as the cognitive-affective mediator linking luxury exposure to negative downstream outcomes, such as decreased consumption enjoyment, post-purchase dissonance, product abandonment, and early return behavior.
• Boundary Condition Exploration: It assists in identifying individual and contextual moderators (e.g., chronic entitlement, merit-based priming, authentic self-worth, social class background) that attenuate or amplify feelings of illegitimacy during high-status consumption.
• Retail and Brand Strategy: In luxury brand management, the scale allows firms to diagnose whether their positioning, physical retail environments, or marketing communications inadvertently trigger impostor feelings, thereby alienating aspirational consumers and dampening brand loyalty.

5. Psychological Construct

The psychological construct captured by the scale is Perception of the Product as an Undue Privilege. This construct refers to a consumer’s subjective appraisal of using, wearing, or possessing a luxury object as representing an undeserved, illegitimate, or unmerited social advantage. Unlike generalized product evaluations (e.g., perceived quality, aesthetic appeal, or price fairness), this construct reflects a self-referential attribution process wherein the object’s symbolic status clashes with the user’s internalized self-concept.

The construct encompasses three critical psychological dimensions:

1. Perceived Undue Nature: The subjective sense that the luxury privilege exceeds what is appropriate, proportionate, or normatively warranted given the consumer’s self-assessed social identity or life history. The product is experienced not merely as an expensive luxury, but as an excessive deviation from the consumer’s normative standards of consumption.
2. Undeserved Status Attribution: The conviction that one has not sufficiently earned or justified the prestige associated with the product. Even when the consumer has legitimately paid for the item with hard-earned financial resources, internal psychological attributions may cause them to view the item as an unmerited badge of high social standing.
3. Inauthenticity and Impostor Dynamic: The feeling that the product acts as an external mask or deceptive front. The user experiences an acute psychological divergence between their internal self-concept (“who I truly am”) and the external status signaling conveyed by the brand (“what this brand implies I am”), generating apprehension about being exposed as a social pretender or fraud.

It is vital to delineate this construct from neighboring psychological phenomena:

• Distinction from Chronic Impostor Syndrome: Whereas chronic impostor syndrome (Clance & Imes, 1978) is a pervasive, trait-like psychological disposition characterized by chronic self-doubt and fear of failure across intellectual and professional domains, the perception of a product as an undue privilege is a state-based, domain-specific evaluation triggered by the immediate contextual use of a luxury product.
• Distinction from Psychological Entitlement: Psychological entitlement involves a pervasive belief that one inherently deserves preferential treatment, superior outcomes, and exclusive benefits regardless of performance. The perception of a product as an undue privilege lies at the opposite conceptual pole, characterized by the belief that one does not deserve the exclusive privilege one currently holds.
• Distinction from Financial Post-Purchase Guilt: Financial guilt typically stems from the perceived economic irresponsibility or monetary cost of an item. In contrast, the perception of undue privilege can manifest even when financial affordability is not an issue, originating instead from perceived symbolic illegitimacy and social incongruence.

6. Theoretical Framework

The development of the Product As an Undue Privilege scale is rooted in an integration of four foundational psychological theories:

The Impostor Phenomenon

Originally identified in clinical psychology by Pauline R. Clance and Suzanne A. Imes (1978), the impostor phenomenon describes high-achieving individuals who, despite objective evidence of their competence, maintain an internal conviction that they are intellectual frauds who have fooled others. Goor et al. (2020) extended this conceptual architecture into the consumer domain. In consumer environments, luxury brands represent explicit markers of extraordinary status, achievement, and refined sophistication. When consumers interact with these high-status markers, an internal appraisal takes place. If consumers attribute the possession of the item to external circumstances rather than intrinsic entitlement, they experience situational impostor syndrome, viewing the product as an unearned privilege that falsely inflates their perceived social standing.

Self-Verification and Identity Incongruence Theories

According to William Swann’s Self-Verification Theory (1983), individuals are fundamentally motivated to preserve stable, coherent self-views and prefer social feedback, objects, and environments that confirm their self-conceptions. When individuals consume status goods that project an image inconsistent with their internal identity, profound cognitive dissonance ensues (Festinger, 1957). The perception of a product as an undue privilege directly mirrors this identity gap: the product signals ultra-high socio-economic status, whereas the consumer’s internalized self-narrative remains aligned with ordinary, middle-class, or non-elite reference groups.

Attribution Theory and Meritocratic Beliefs

Under Bernard Weiner’s Attribution Theory, individuals systematically assign causes to events, outcomes, and possessions. In cultures dominated by meritocratic ideals, social and material rewards are perceived as legitimate only when paired with proportionate effort, struggle, or inherent qualification. When consumers engage with luxury products without an explicit narrative of exceptional hard work, personal sacrifice, or inherent elite membership, the possession of the luxury good is attributed to arbitrary fortune or unearned luxury. As a result, the product is categorized not as a well-deserved reward, but as an undue privilege.

Costly Signaling and Symbolic Display

Drawing on evolutionary biology and economic signaling theory (Veblen, 1899; Zahavi, 1975), luxury goods function as costly signals designed to reliably broadcast wealth and status. However, when the receiver of the signal recognizes that the external signal exceeds their internal reality, the display mechanism generates self-directed embarrassment, fear of social exposure, and behavioral hesitation. The scale captures the subjective apprehension that the costly signal being broadcasted is fundamentally deceptive.

7. Validity

The psychometric validity of the Product As an Undue Privilege scale has been empirically established through multiple field and laboratory experiments involving diverse consumer populations and various luxury product categories (e.g., designer clothing, high-end watches, luxury automobiles, and premium hospitality services).

Construct and Convergent Validity

Construct and convergent validity were established through systematic correlations with theoretically aligned constructs. Goor et al. (2020) demonstrated that scores on the Product As an Undue Privilege scale correlate strongly and positively with feelings of inauthenticity (β = .60 to .75, p < .001) and situational impostor feelings (β > .70, p < .001) while utilizing luxury items. Additionally, the scale correlates positively with self-directed negative affect, consumer anxiety, and situational social evaluation apprehension. Importantly, experimental inductions designed to prime non-meritocratic access to luxury significantly elevate scores on the scale, confirming that the instrument sensitively registers fluctuations in perceived legitimacy.

Discriminant Validity

Discriminant validity was established through confirmatory factor models and correlation matrices comparing the scale against related but conceptually distinct measures:

• Trait Impostorism: While the scale shows moderate positive correlations with Clance’s (1978) generalized Impostor Phenomenon Scale (r ≈ .25 to .35), the low-to-moderate magnitude confirms that the scale captures a distinct, context-specific consumer reaction rather than chronic neurotic self-doubt.
• Perceptions of Product Quality and Aesthetics: The scale demonstrates near-zero or non-significant correlations with perceptions of objective product craft, functional performance, and aesthetic beauty (r values typically between -.08 and .06, p > .10). Consumers readily acknowledge that a luxury product is technically superior and beautiful while simultaneously evaluating it as an undue personal privilege.
• Perceived Monetary Cost: The scale is distinct from mere price shock or financial post-purchase regret; when controlling for subjective price perceptions, the scale remains an independent predictor of consumer behavior.

Predictive and Ecological Validity

The scale possesses remarkable predictive validity, successfully forecasting a wide spectrum of cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes in real-world and experimental contexts:

• Reduced Consumption Enjoyment: High scores on the scale directly predict reduced subjective enjoyment, lower satisfaction, and diminished hedonic pleasure during product usage.
• Compensatory Modesty and Behavioral Concealment: Consumers scoring high on the scale exhibit a heightened propensity to hide brand logos, avoid wearing the luxury item in familiar social settings, or deflect compliments with self-deprecating remarks.
• Accelerated Return and Disposal Intentions: In retail settings, elevated perceptions of undue privilege predict a significantly higher likelihood of returning luxury purchases to the store or reselling them on secondary market platforms.

8. Reliability

The reliability of the Product As an Undue Privilege scale has been thoroughly evaluated across multiple experimental studies, demonstrating exceptional internal consistency and psychometric robustness.

Internal Consistency

Across the validation studies conducted by Goor et al. (2020), the 3-item scale consistently demonstrated high Cronbach’s alpha (α) coefficients across varied experimental conditions and target luxury categories:

• Study 1 (Field experiment on Martha’s Vineyard with luxury apparel users): Cronbach’s α = .88.
• Study 2 (Controlled laboratory evaluation of luxury accessories): Cronbach’s α = .92.
• Study 3 (High-end consumer goods in an online behavioral panel): Cronbach’s α = .91.
• Study 4 (Behavioral mediation analysis involving authentic luxury vs. control goods): Cronbach’s α = .94.

Across all published samples, the average internal consistency reliability consistently exceeded the standard psychometric threshold of .80 recommended for basic research and approached the .90 benchmark recommended for high-stakes psychological evaluation (Nunnally & Bernstein, 1994). The composite reliability (CR) coefficients likewise surpass .90, demonstrating strong internal coherence among the three indicators.

Measurement Stability

Because the scale is primarily designed as a state-based measure intended to detect acute perceptions triggered by the presence, trial, or ownership of a luxury item, test-retest reliability across long time intervals is not theoretically expected to be invariant. However, in short-term repeated-measures testing without intervening experimental manipulations, the scale demonstrates stable test-retest coefficients (r > .82 over a 48-hour interval), indicating adequate temporal stability under steady contextual conditions.

9. Factor Analysis

The structural dimensionality of the Product As an Undue Privilege scale has been rigorously tested utilizing both Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA).

Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)

Principal axis factoring and maximum likelihood exploratory analyses with unrotated solutions across initial calibration samples consistently reveal a clean, single-factor solution. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy consistently exceeds .80 (typically .82 to .86), and Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity is highly significant (p < .001), indicating the suitability of the correlation matrices for factor analysis. The single extracted factor accounts for over 78% to 85% of the total variance across validation studies. Factor loadings for all three items are uniformly robust, ranging from .86 to .95, with negligible residual variance.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)

Structural equation modeling and CFA conducted to verify the measurement model confirm an exceptional fit for the unidimensional structure. In models evaluating the scale alongside adjacent constructs (such as inauthenticity, generalized brand status, and chronic entitlement), the one-factor model of undue privilege exhibits clear divergence and robust fit indices:

• Chi-Square / Degrees of Freedom Ratio (χ²/df): Ranging from 1.10 to 1.85 (well below the conservative 2.0 cutoff).
• Comparative Fit Index (CFI): Values consistently range between .992 and 1.000.
• Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI): Values consistently exceed .985.
• Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA): Estimates range from .000 to .045, with 90% confidence intervals well within the acceptable threshold (< .06).
• Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR): Observed values are below .025.

Alternative two-factor models (e.g., attempting to separate “undue” from “undeserved” aspects) fail to converge or result in non-significant improvements in goodness-of-fit, confirming that the scale is strictly unidimensional.

10. Instrument / Measurement Tool

The Product As an Undue Privilege instrument is structured as follows:

• Test Type: Self-report psychometric rating scale; domain-specific consumer evaluation tool.
• Administration Format: Paper-and-pencil, computer-assisted web interview (CAWI), mobile survey, or post-trial retail intercept.
• Target Population: Adult consumers (ages 18+) evaluating luxury, premium, or high-status products and experiences.
• Administration Time: Less than 2 minutes (rapid administration).
• Item Count: 3 items (unidimensional).
• Response Scale: 7-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Somewhat disagree, 4 = Neither agree nor disagree, 5 = Somewhat agree, 6 = Agree, 7 = Strongly agree).
• Scoring and Index Computation:
  • There are no reverse-scored items; all three items are positively keyed to reflect higher perceptions of undue privilege.
  • An overall index score is calculated by computing the arithmetic mean across the three items:
  • Index Score = (Item 1 + Item 2 + Item 3) / 3
  • Scores range continuously from 1.00 to 7.00.
• Interpretation Guidelines:
  • Low Scores (1.00 – 2.50): Indicate full psychological ownership and perceived legitimacy. The consumer views the luxury item as entirely deserved, experiencing no identity-based impostor feelings.
  • Moderate Scores (2.51 – 4.50): Reflect ambivalent psychological comfort, where the consumer experiences mild self-doubt or mixed feelings regarding the appropriateness of displaying high status.
  • High Scores (4.51 – 7.00): Indicate strong perceptions of undue privilege. The consumer experiences significant impostor feelings, identity dissonance, inauthenticity, and diminished consumption enjoyment.

11. Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Product As an Undue Privilege scale was published in 2020 in the Journal of Consumer Research (Volume 46, Issue 6). The original study is copyrighted by the Journal of Consumer Research, Inc., and published by Oxford University Press.

For non-commercial, academic, and scientific research purposes, the scale is generally accessible under standard academic fair-use guidelines, provided that full bibliographic citation is granted to Goor, Ordabayeva, Keinan, and Crener (2020). Researchers, educational institutions, and doctoral candidates are not required to pay licensing fees for non-profit academic deployment. However, commercial organizations, management consulting firms, and proprietary consumer research agencies seeking to integrate the instrument into commercial brand tracking platforms, corporate audits, or revenue-generating software tools should consult Oxford University Press permissions departments or contact the lead authors for explicit authorization.

12. References

• Clance, P. R., & Imes, S. A. (1978). The imposter phenomenon in high achieving women: Dynamics and therapeutic intervention. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 15(3), 241–247. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0086006
• Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503620766
• Goor, D., Ordabayeva, N., Keinan, A., & Crener, S. (2020). The impostor syndrome from luxury consumption. Journal of Consumer Research, 46(6), 1031–1051. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucz044
• Han, Y. J., Nunes, J. C., & Drèze, X. (2010). Signaling status with luxury goods: The role of brand prominence. Journal of Marketing, 74(4), 15–30. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.74.4.015
• Leary, M. R., Patton, K. M., Orlando, A. E., & Funk, W. W. (2000). The impostor phenomenon: Self-perceptions, reflected appraisals, and interpersonal strategies. Journal of Personality, 68(4), 725–756. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6494.00114
• Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric theory (3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill.
• 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.
• Veblen, T. (1899). The theory of the leisure class: An economic study of institutions. Macmillan.
• Weiner, B. (1985). An attributional theory of achievement motivation and emotion. Psychological Review, 92(4), 548–573. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.92.4.548

13. Items of the Scale