The public value concept is highly popular among practitioners and
researchers, yet, to further test and develop the construct it needs more
diversity in empirical research. We aim to contribute to future empirical
public value research by providing a new public value scale based on
Meynhardt’s conceptualization of public value. Conducting two empirical
surveys with highly representative samples, we have developed and validated
a twelve-item public value scale. Additionally, we applied the scale
to empirically test what distinguishes public value from adjacent constructs,
such as CSR or reputation, and to examine its explanatory power
regarding important client/customer outcomes. The scale will allow future
research to test extant public value hypotheses more thoroughly than
before by using survey or experimental research designs. Practitioners can
use the scale to gain a deeper understanding of public evaluation.