The transfer coefficient quantifies how much of the applied potential driving force goes to driving the rate of a given electrochemical reaction. In electrochemical synthesis systems, the applied potential driving force drives a suite of competitive surface reactions and overcomes losses attributable to low rates of mass transfer (i.e., Nernstian losses). Thus, taking kinetic parameters directly from measured polarization data typically leads to an overestimation of the Tafel slope (and, hence, an underestimation of the transfer coefficient due to their inverse proportionality) by neglecting the potential losses associated with mass transport and competitive surface reactions. As mass transfer improves, and in the limit of a single surface reaction, the intrinsic kinetics can be measured experimentally. However, the presence of competing electrochemical reactions and poor mass transfer is the norm in electrochemical synthesis, rather than the exception. These results underscore the need for physiochemical models that enable determining the intrinsic Tafel parameters for individual reaction kinetics unaffected by the effects of mass transport, bulk reactions occurring the mass-transfer boundary layer, or competing surface reactions.