Consumer Emotional Intelligence: Conceptualization, Measurement, and the Prediction of Consumer Decision Making

This research details the development of the Consumer Emotional Intelligence Scale (CEIS), which was designed to measure individual differences in consumers' ability to use emotional information. Scale development procedures confirmed the theoretical structure of the 18-item scale. Results supported the scale's reliability and its discriminant and nomological validity. Our consumer domain-specific measure predicted food choices better than a more domain-general alternative. Furthermore, consumer emotional intelligence (EI) predicted food choices beyond cognitive knowledge. Finally, consumer EI was found to generalize to product-based decision making. Theoretical implications of consumer EI are discussed along with areas of future research. (c) 2007 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..