Disgust with the Person in the Ad

What it measures

A four-item scale measuring the intensity of moral objection and disgust a consumer experiences toward a person featured in an advertisement. Items span moral opposition toward the person, moral objection to their presence, and disgust directed at both the featured person and the advertisement itself. Developed for research on offensive advertising, the scale captures the moral-emotional response to endorser identity or behaviour rather than simple dislike — the feeling that something ethically objectionable has been put before the consumer.

Response format

7-point Likert

Scale items

• I morally object to the person who is shown in the ad.
• I morally oppose the person who is shown in the ad.
• I am disgusted by the person who is shown in the ad.
• I am disgusted by the ad.

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

Usage notes & scoring

Single alpha: α = .87 — Rößner, Gvili & Eisend (2021, Study 1; n = 336 adult Israeli participants). VALIDITY: Not reported. Original survey administered in Hebrew; English version shown here is the back-translated form (Rößner 2022, personal correspondence). Researchers using the scale in English should consider whether the Hebrew-English translation preserves item equivalence. Developed as part of offensive advertising research examining moral disgust as a driver of consumer avoidance — distinct from general ad disliking or aesthetic dissatisfaction.

Citation

Rößner, Anna, Yaniv Gvili, and Martin Eisend (2021). Offensive advertising: A meta-analysis. Journal of Advertising, 50(4), 388–408.

Keywords