Volume 7, Issue 2 p. 159-186
Original Research Article

Development of a Scale to Measure Consumer Skepticism Toward Advertising

Carl Obermiller

Corresponding Author

Carl Obermiller

Albers School of Business, Seattle University

Request for reprints should be sent to Carl Obermiller, Associate Professor, Albers School of Business, Seattle University, Seattle, WA 98122-4460.Search for more papers by this author
Eric R. Spangenberg

Eric R. Spangenberg

Department of Marketing, Washington State University

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First published: 25 January 2008
Citations: 643

Abstract

A 9-item Likert-type scale was developed to measure consumer skepticism toward advertising. Skepticism toward advertising, defined as the general tendency toward disbelief of advertising claims, was hypothesized to be a basic marketplace belief that varies across individuals and is related to general persuasability. A nomological network was proposed, unidimensionality and internal consistency of the scale were established, and a series of studies were conducted to establish the scale's validity and to investigate the effects of ad skepticism.