Assessing measurement invariance of the CETSCALE in Guangxi, China

Abstract

PurposeThis study sets about assessing measurement invariance of the widely used CETSCALE in the context of an economically disadvantageous inland city in China. The 10-item CETSCALE (Shimp and Sharma 1987) was administered to a college-level student sample (male = 55 and female = 198) in Nanning City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. AMOS v. 20 was used to conduct confirmatory factor analysis and assess measurement invariance across gender.Design/methodology/approachThis study is designed to assess measurement invariance of the 10-item CETSCALE with student sample in Nanning, the capital city of Guangxi, China.FindingsThe results support full metric invariance and factor variance invariance and partial scalar invariance and measurement residual invariance for the refined 5-item CETSCALE. It is found that college students in an economically underdeveloped multi-ethnic inland city like Nanning were less consumer ethnocentric than those in the affluent coastal cities.Originality/valueThis is the first study to assess measurement invariance of the CETSCALE with student sample from an economically underdeveloped multi-ethnic inland city in China.