Ad Character Social Conformity

What it measures

Four items assess the extent to which an observer perceives the person shown in an advertisement to behave in accordance with social norms and to subscribe to the importance of following societal rules. Youn, Park, and Eom (2019) created the scale by adapting phrases from Feldman's (2003) social conformity–autonomy beliefs scale. It was used as a manipulation check in Studies 2B and 2C with Japanese participants.

Response format

7-point Likert (anchors not specified)

Scale items

• The person in the ad behaves to fit in the society where we live.
• The person in the ad obeys the rules for the society.
• The person in the ad would believe that we should keep the social norms and need to learn to fit in and get along with others.
• The person in the ad would believe that the only way to stay out of trouble is to respect the established rules of society.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

The scale was developed for use with Japanese participants and was likely administered in Japanese; contact the authors for a validated Japanese version. Successful manipulation across two studies provides preliminary evidence of predictive validity. Response anchors were not specified.

Citation

Youn, N., Park, J., & Eom, H. J. (2019). Reactions to nonconformity imagery in advertising among Chinese and Japanese consumers: The effect of personal and national cultural tightness. Journal of Advertising, 48(5), 532–554.

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