AN ALTERNATE APPROACH TO ASSESSING CROSS-CULTURAL MEASUREMENT EQUIVALENCE IN ADVERTISING RESEARCH

Abstract

This paper offers a new methodological framework to guide researchers attempting to quantitatively assess how a pluralistic audience perceives a standardized television advertisement. Rasch (1960) measurement theory is introduced as an alternative to the more commonly employed multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) approach to assessing cross-cultural scalar equivalence. By analyzing a multicultural data set, we are able to make various inferences concerning the scalar equivalence of Schlinger's confusion scale. The methodology reveals the limits of the scale, which in all probability would not have been detected using traditional approaches. For researchers attempting to develop new scales, or even to refine existing scales, strict adherence to established guidelines of item generation together with the application of the proposed methodology should ensure better results for both theorists and practitioners.