A three-item scale measuring the degree to which a social media tweet is perceived as inappropriate, unfair, and manipulative. Items use single-word descriptors capturing the perceived ethical violations and coercive intent embedded in the tweet's communication strategy. Originally developed for research on persuasion knowledge and regulatory focus, the scale has been applied in social media marketing research to assess consumer perceptions of manipulative brand communication tactics.
7-point Likert
Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.
Items originally from Kirmani & Zhu (2007); adapted for social media context by Thomas & Fowler (2021, Study 1 n = 345, Study 2 n = 152, MTurk). The 3-item version (Studies 1 and 2 combined): α = .95. A 2-item version was also used: inter-item correlation r = .75 and r = .77 for the two brands, respectively — below threshold. The scale is included on the basis of the .95 estimate from the 3-item version. NOTE: Items are presented as unipolar descriptors rather than full statements. Response stem should make clear that participants are rating the tweet on these attributes.
Kirmani, Amna and Rui (Juliet) Zhu (2007). Vigilant against manipulation: The effect of regulatory focus on the use of persuasion knowledge. Journal of Consumer Research, 34(5), 688–701. [Applied to social media context by: Thomas, Veronica L. and Kendra Fowler (2021). Close encounters of the AI kind: Use of AI influencers as brand endorsers. Journal of Advertising, 50(1), 11–25.]
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