A three-item Likert-type scale measuring the extent to which a person believes it is fair to provide something to a website (such as personal data or attention to advertising) in exchange for free content access. The scale operationalises distributive justice in the online exchange context — the perceived equity of what visitors give versus what they receive. Schumann, von Wangenheim, and Groene (2014) adapted it from Wirtz and Lwin (2009) and used it in Study 1 to examine how reciprocity appeals moderate acceptance of targeted online advertising. The scale was originally administered in German via back-translation. Alpha = .92 and AVE = .79 indicate excellent reliability and strong convergent validity.
Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.
The scale was administered in German in the original study; the English version is the back-translated source. The three items are framed around 'rewarding', 'asking for a favour', and 'providing a benefit' — language that presupposes awareness of the exchange dynamic; ensure participants understand the data-for-content exchange before administering. Discriminant validity from related constructs was established by Schumann et al. (2014). This scale should be used alongside the Website Procedural Justice Scale (id:628) when the research question concerns both outcome fairness and process fairness in online privacy contexts. The Wirtz & Lwin (2009) source scale concerned fairness in service information-handling contexts; Schumann et al. adapted it specifically to the website advertising reciprocity context.
Schumann, J. H., von Wangenheim, F., & Groene, N. (2014). Targeted online advertising: Using reciprocity appeals to increase acceptance among users of free web services. Journal of Marketing, 78(1), 59–75.
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