Argument Strength Scale

What it measures

Assesses a respondent's perception of how persuasive and cognitively impactful the content of an advertising message was. Captures whether the message was seen as strong, powerful, informative, and capable of shifting the respondent's thinking on a topic. Three of the five items closely parallel earlier work by Lord, Lee, and Sauer (1995) on argument strength. Used as a manipulation check in the context of myth/fact message framing effects on attitudes toward mental illness.

Response format

9-point semantic differential

Scale items

• Very weak / Very strong
• Not very persuasive / Very persuasive
• Not very powerful / Very powerful
• Not at all informative / Very informative
• Made me think of [topic] in the exact same way / Made me think of [topic] in a completely different way

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

Usage notes & scoring

Scale source not stated by Yeh and Jewell (2015); three items trace to Lord, Lee, and Sauer (1995) argument strength measure. Single-factor structure confirmed via EFA in both studies; one factor explained the majority of variance with high item loadings. Used as a manipulation check for argument quality; successful manipulations provide indirect evidence of predictive validity. Stem and blanks should be adapted to the specific ad topic or issue under study. If the argument is delivered outside an ad context (e.g., sales presentation, film), the stem wording can be adjusted accordingly.

Citation

Yeh, M.A., & Jewell, R.D. (2015). The myth/fact message frame and persuasion in advertising: Enhancing attitudes toward the mentally ill. Journal of Advertising, 44(2), 161-172.

Keywords