Construct heterogeneity and proliferation in advertising research

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

International Journal of Advertising

Publication Date

11-17-2019

Abstract

© 2019, © 2019 Advertising Association. This paper presents results from a study of measurement practice in leading advertising journals. The focus is on heterogeneity in measurement operationalizations of the same construct and construct proliferation (i.e. when constructs have different names but overlapping content). These issues were addressed by analyzing the measurement operationalizations in all articles published in three leading advertising journals between 2012 and 2014. Results show considerable heterogeneity in the operationalizations of three common advertising constructs (ad credibility, ad irritation and perceived humour) for which almost every study used a unique operationalization. Results also show considerable construct proliferation as different names were used for the same constructs and there was overlap in the operationalizations of several advertising constructs. The paper offers a discussion of implications for advertising research and suggests steps that can be taken towards improving measurement practice.

ISSN

0265-0487

Publisher

Taylor and Francis Ltd.

Volume

38

Issue

8

First Page

1286

Last Page

1302

Disciplines

Business

Keywords

C-OAR-SE, Measurement, measurement scales, psychometrics, reliability, validity

Scopus ID

85066856650

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

no

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