A three-item, nine-point semantic differential scale measuring the extent to which a person perceives an advertisement to be unbelievable, untruthful, and deceptive. The scale captures consumers' skeptical evaluation of advertising honesty and transparency. Assumed to have been developed by Kirmani and Zhu for use in a study examining how regulatory focus affects consumers' activation of persuasion knowledge in response to potentially manipulative advertising. The scale was subsequently used by Aguirre-Rodriguez (2013) in a Journal of Advertising study of scarcity appeals, where it demonstrated stronger reliability, providing cross-study validation of the instrument. The handbook notes the items may also be suitable for evaluating the perceived deceptiveness of people or other stimuli beyond advertising.
Kirmani, A., & Zhu, R. (2007). Vigilant against manipulation: The effect of regulatory focus on the use of persuasion knowledge. Journal of Marketing Research, 44(4), 688-701.
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