Attitude Toward the Tweet (Surprising)

What it measures

A three-item scale measuring the perceived unexpectedness of a social media tweet — the degree to which its content catches the reader off guard, defying their prior expectations. Items tap the unexpected, surprising, and unanticipated dimensions of tweet content using closely synonymous descriptors. Used as a manipulation check for the element of surprise in improvised social media marketing interventions, the scale captures a key driver of virality and engagement in digital brand communication.

Response format

7-point Likert

Scale items

• The tweet content is very unexpected.
• The tweet content is very surprising.
• The tweet content is very unanticipated.

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

Usage notes & scoring

Single alpha: α = .94 — Borah et al. (2020, Study 2, n = 771 MTurk). VALIDITY: Used as manipulation check; successful detection provides preliminary predictive validity. Scale source not stated — appears original to authors. Companion tweet scales: Humorous (ATTWH), Manipulative (ATTWM), Negativity (ATTWN), and Timeliness (ATTWTL).

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Borah, Abhishek, Sourindra Banerjee, Yu-Ting Lin, Apurv Jain, and Andreas B. Eisingerich (2020). Improvised marketing interventions in social media. Journal of Marketing, 84(2), 69–91.

Keywords