The aim of this article is to assess creativity in advertising. While creativity is currently measured by advertising professionals, our measure focuses on consumers' judgments of the creativity of advertisements (perceived creativity). In Study 1, in-depth interviews were conducted to explore consumers' implicit theories of creativity in advertising. In Study 2, a scale was developed to measure perceived advertising creativity. Advertisements seen as creative by the consumer include three dimensions: novelty, complexity and aesthetics. Novelty is the association of stimuli both unexpected and relevant to the advertisement. Complexity is associated with an advertisement rich in multiple meanings. The aesthetics dimension relates to design specific to creative advertising. Our research provides a better understanding of consumers' perception of creativity, and offers the opportunity for practitioners to improve the creativity of their campaigns.
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