A three-item unipolar scale measuring how difficult a consumer perceives a given task to be. Items use single adjective descriptors capturing the hard, difficult, and easy (reverse-scored) dimensions of perceived task effort. Originally labelled as a fluency index and used to measure the difficulty experienced when reading or pronouncing brand names, the scale is concise and broadly applicable to any experimental context in which perceived task difficulty is relevant.
7-point unipolar (not at all / very)
Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.
Single reliability estimate: α = .85 — Argo, Popa & Smith (2010). VALIDITY: Not reported. Response scale anchored at 'not at all' (1) and 'very' (7). One item is reverse-scored (easy). CONTEXT: Originally developed as a fluency index to measure difficulty in reading or pronouncing brand names in a phonetics study; applicable more broadly as a general task difficulty measure with potential rescaling or wording adjustment for other task types.
Argo, Jennifer J., Monica Popa, and Malcolm C. Smith (2010). The sound of brands. Journal of Marketing, 74(4), 97–109.
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