Visual Complexity Scale

What it measures

Five items assess how visually complex a stimulus appears to a viewer, capturing multiple dimensions of perceptual complexity: overall complexity, boundary clarity of objects, the perceived number of objects present, the sense that some parts are hidden or invisible, and whether the scene feels chaotic or organised. The scale is designed for use with visual stimuli such as product packages, store environments, websites, or images. A blank in each item should be filled with a generic label for the stimulus type (e.g., 'photo', 'store', 'package').

Representative items

• Study 1: n = 268
• Study 2: n = 351
• Study 3: n = 117; all Orth and Crouch (2014)

Citation

Orth, U. R., & Crouch, R. C. (2014). Is beauty in the aisles of the retailer? Package processing in visually complex contexts. Journal of Retailing, 90(4), 524-537.