4. The SVO measure development
4.1. Pilot test: cross-product examination
A pilot test was used as an initial quantitative procedure to examine whether SVO ratings on shopping goods displayed any discrepancies from those of specific products. For this purpose, clothing and small electronics were selected as they can be placed on opposite sides of the hedonic utilitarian continuum (Kim & Kang, 2001). A total of 60 students enrolled at a southeastern university in the U.S. completed the same questionnaires for three different products (shopping goods, clothing, and small electronics) with 2–3 weeks between surveys.
For each of the SVO measurement items, respondents were asked to rate “When you shop for shopping goods (clothing or small electronics) at a retail store, how important is value item to you?” on a 5‐point scale (1 = “Not important at all” to 5 = “Very important”). Based on the ANOVA test, the ratings of shopping goods were not significantly different (p>.05) from those of clothing and small electronics except for two items: “Being able to find competitive prices” and “Being able to find helpful salespeople when needed.” Therefore, these two items were excluded in the pretest and the main study.