The objective of this study was to explore the semantic structure used by subjects in assessing (evaluating) a series of eight television commercials previously (but unofficially) rated for deceptiveness by FTC attorneys. Five local respondent groups were used: 158 undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory advertising course, 175 third-year law students, 61 adult housewives, 54 female children with an average age of 11.8 years, and 66 black undergraduate students. Primary concerns of the study were to derive and identify a set of basic perceptual dimensions that characterize viewer response to a series of test advertisements and to determine if a deception dimension exists within the evaluative framework and which response variables define it. Attention was also focused on the methodology of exploration by using the multivariate techniques of factor analysis, discriminant analysis, and points-of-view analysis. Findings were related to public policymaking requirements in the regulation of deceptive advertising practices. (Author/JM)