Advertising Scepticism Scale

What it measures

Measures the general tendency to disbelieve advertising claims — a stable dispositional scepticism that spans all advertising and product categories rather than scepticism toward a specific ad. Higher advertising scepticism is associated with reduced advertising effectiveness, greater persuasion knowledge activation, and more deliberative processing of ad claims.

Response format

Likert (1–5, strongly disagree to strongly agree)

Scale items

• I believe that advertising is generally truthful. (R)
• Advertising is a reliable source of information about the quality and performance of products. (R)
• Advertising is generally untruthful.
• I feel that I have been accurately informed after seeing most advertisements. (R)
• Most advertising claims are truthful. (R)
• Most advertising provides consumers with essential information. (R)
• Advertising is a trustworthy source of information about products and services. (R)
• I believe advertising is informative. (R)
• Advertising is truth in packaging. (R)

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

Usage notes & scoring

(R)=reverse-scored. Score = mean; higher = more sceptical. Widely used as a moderator of advertising effectiveness. Advertising scepticism is higher among older consumers, those with higher education, and those with greater persuasion knowledge. Also used in research on native advertising, influencer marketing, and CSR communications credibility.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Obermiller, C., & Spangenberg, E.R. (1998). Development of a scale to measure consumer skepticism toward advertising. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 7(2), 159–186.

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