The VRP is one of the earliest validated multidimensional frameworks for measuring consumer responses to television advertising. Schlinger (1979) developed the VRP through factor analysis of open-ended consumer responses to commercials, yielding seven distinct response dimensions that go beyond simple evaluative reactions to capture the cognitive, affective, and relational texture of ad processing. Entertainment captures enjoyment, interest, and aesthetic pleasure from the ad; Confusion assesses whether the message is difficult to comprehend or confusing; Relevant News measures whether the ad provides new and personally useful product information; Brand Reinforcement captures the degree to which the ad confirms and strengthens prior positive brand associations; Empathy assesses identification with the characters, situations, or emotions depicted; Familiarity reflects whether the ad format and content feels known or expected; and Alienation captures feelings of being personally targeted negatively or manipulated by the ad. The VRP was developed primarily for television commercials but has been adapted for other advertising media. Its multidimensional profile approach enables researchers to distinguish between ads that engage via entertainment versus information versus emotional resonance, and to identify advertising execution strategies that are confusing or alienating to target audiences.
5-point Likert (1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree); seven subscale scores averaged separately; no composite total
Entertainment — ENT (5 items): enjoyment, interest, and aesthetic pleasure derived from the advertising execution. 5-point Likert (1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree). Items averaged.
Confusion — CON (5 items): difficulty comprehending the ad message or feeling unclear about what the ad is communicating. 5-point Likert. Items averaged.
Relevant News — RN (5 items): perceived provision of new, personally useful product information. 5-point Likert. Items averaged.
Brand Reinforcement — BR (5 items): degree to which the ad confirms and strengthens prior positive brand attitudes. 5-point Likert. Items averaged.
Empathy — EMP (5 items): identification with the characters, situations, or emotions depicted in the ad. 5-point Likert. Items averaged.
Familiarity — FAM (4 items): sense that the ad format, message, or execution feels previously encountered or expected. 5-point Likert. Items averaged.
Alienation — ALN (3 items): feelings of being manipulated, negatively targeted, or exploited by the advertising message. 5-point Likert. Items averaged.
Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.
The seven VRP subscales should not be aggregated into a composite score; the profile of subscale scores is the theoretically meaningful unit. The VRP was developed using factor analysis of consumer verbatims from television ad exposure, giving it strong ecological validity. The Confusion subscale is particularly useful as a diagnostic — high confusion scores signal ad copy or creative execution problems. Alienation identifies backlash among specific audience segments. The VRP is particularly useful in copy-testing research where multiple ad executions are compared on the same product across different creative strategies. Schlinger (1979) validated the VRP with consumer panel data across multiple product categories.
Schlinger, M.J. (1979). A profile of responses to commercials. Journal of Advertising Research, 19(2), 37–46.
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