Sympathetic Response to Advertising Drama

What it measures

Five items assess the extent to which a viewer understands what advertising drama characters are feeling and experiencing, without personally taking on those emotions. Represents a cognitive awareness of characters' circumstances rather than affective merger.

Response format

7-point Likert (1=strongly disagree, 7=strongly agree)

Scale items

• Based on what was happening in the commercial, I understood what the characters were feeling.
• Based on what was happening in the commercial, I understood what was bothering the characters.
• While watching the ad, I tried to understand the events as they occurred.
• While watching the ad, I tried to understand the characters' motivation.
• I was able to recognize the problems that the characters in the ad had.

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

Usage notes & scoring

Alphas of .88 (Experiment 1) and .89 (Experiment 2). Discriminant validity from the companion empathy scale was confirmed via CFA. The theoretical empathy-sympathy distinction was central to the paper's contribution. Companion scale: Empathic Response to Advertising Drama (ID 1001).

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Escalas, J. E., & Stern, B. B. (2003). Sympathy and empathy: Emotional responses to advertising dramas. Journal of Consumer Research, 29(March), 566–578.

Keywords