Marketing Research Aaker, Kumar, Day, and Leone Tenth Edition Instructor’s Presentation Slides

Chapter Nine Attitude Measurement

Attitude Measurement Used to understand and influence behavior since: Concept exists that attitudes lead to behavior More feasible to ask questions on attitudes than to observe and interpret behavior Capacity for diagnosis and explanation Learn which features of a new product concept are acceptable or unacceptable Measure the perceived strengths and weaknesses of competitive alternatives

What Are Attitudes? Components of attitude: Mental states used by individuals to structure the way they perceive their environment and guide the way they respond to it Components of attitude: Cognitive or Knowledge component Affective or Liking component Intention or Action component

Cognitive or Knowledge Component Represents: A person’s information about an object Awareness of existence of the object Beliefs about the characteristics or attributes of the object Judgments about the relative importance of each of the attributes

Affective or Liking Component Summarizes a person’s overall feelings toward an object, situation, or person on a scale of like-dislike or favorable- unfavorable When there are several alternatives, liking is expressed in terms of preference for one alternative Preference measured by asking which alternative is “most preferred” or “first choice,” which is the “second choice,” and so on

Intention or Action Component Refers to a person’s expectations of future behavior toward an object Intentions are usually limited to a distinct time period that depends on buying habits and planning horizons Incorporates information about a respondent’s ability or willingness to pay for the object, or otherwise take action

Concept of Measurement Standardized process of assigning numbers or other symbols to certain characteristics of objects of interest, according to pre-specified rules Characteristics for Standardization One-to-one correspondence between the symbol and the characteristic in the object that is being measured Rules for assignment should be invariant over time and the objects being measured

Scaling Nominal Ordinal Interval Ratio Process of creating a continuum on which objects are located according to the amount of the measured characteristic possessed Nominal Ordinal Interval Ratio

Nominal Scale Objects are assigned to mutually exclusive, labeled categories No necessary relationships among categories No ordering or spacing are implied Only possible arithmetic operation is a count of each category Are you a resident of Connecticut? Yes No Are you 1) Caucasian 2) African-American 3) Hispanic 4) Asian 5) Other

Ordinal or Rank Scale Ranks objects or arranges them in order by some common variable Does not provide information on how much difference there is between objects Arithmetic operations are limited to statistics such as median or mode Rank your preferences for the following attributes in making a car purchase decision Price ----------- Safety ----------- Design ----------- Fuel economy ------------

Interval Scale Numbers used to rank objects also represent equal increments of the attribute being measured Differences can be compared Entire range of statistical operations can be employed for analysis On a scale of 1 to 7, how would you rate the performance of natural gas as home heating fuel in terms of reliability of supply? (1 being least reliable and 7 being most reliable) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Ratio Scale Type of interval scale with meaningful zero point Possible to say how many times greater or smaller one object is than another Only scale that permits comparisons of absolute magnitude What is your zip code?______ How old are you? _________

Types of Scales and Their Properties

Attitude Rating Scales Present a respondent with a continuum of numbered categories that represent the range of possible attitude adjustments Classified as: Single item scales Multiple item scales

Classification of Attitude Scales Single-Item Scales Continuous Scales Multi-Item Scales Stapel Scales Thurstone Scales Likert Scales Associative Scales Semantic Differential Scale Paired Comparison Scales Q-sort Scales Comparative Scales Itemized Category Scales Pictorial Scales Constant Sum Scales Rank Order Scales

Single Item Scales Only have one item to measure a construct Types of Single item scales Itemized-category Comparative Rank-order Q-sort Pictoral Constant sum

Itemized-category Scales Respondent selects from a limited number of categories ________ Very Satisfied _________ Quite Satisfied _________ Somewhat Satisfied _________ Not at all Satisfied `

Comparative Scale A judgment comparing one object, concept, or person against one another

Rank-order Scales Respondent compares one item with another or a group of items against each other and ranks them

Q-sort Scaling Respondents sort comparative characteristics into normally distributed groups Ten or more groups increases accuracy of results

Pictorial Scales Various categories of the scale are depicted pictorially Thermometer Scale Funny faces scale Format must be comprehensible to respond and allow accurate response 100 75 50 25 Like very much Dislike very much 1 2 3 4 5

Types of Single Item Scales (Contd.) Paired-Comparison Scales The brands to be rated are presented two at a time, so each brand in the category is compared once to every other brand Brands are rated on a given number of points that are then divided between the two brands on the basis of respondents’ preferences Frame of reference is always the other brand being tested; these brands may change over time Compare A and B A and C A and D B and C B and D C and D

Constant-sum Scale Respondents allocate a fixed number of rating points among serial objects to reflect relative preference

Designing Single Item Scales Decisions regarding form and structure: Types of poles used in the scale Number of scale categories Strength of the anchors Balance of the scale Labeling of the categories Balanced Very good ______ Good ______ Fair ______ Poor ______ Very Poor ______ Unbalanced Excellent ______ Very Good ______ Good ______ Fair ______ Poor ______

Semantic-Differential Scales Multiple-item Scales Developed to measure a sample of beliefs toward the attitude objects and combine the set of answers into an average score Types of multiple-item scales: Likert Scale Thurstone Scales Semantic-Differential Scales

Likert Scale Requires respondent to indicate degree of agreement or disagreement with a variety of statements related to the attitude object Also called Summated Scale since scores on individual items are summed to give total score for respondents Usually consists of item part and evaluative part Likert scale Is uni-dimensional

Likert Scale – Example

Thurstone Scales Also known as the method of equal-appearing intervals since objective is to obtain a unidimensional scale with interval properties Step 1: Generate a large number of statements or adjectives reflecting all degrees of favorableness toward the attitude objects Step 2: A group of judges is given this set of items and asked to classify them according to their degree of favorableness or unfavorableness

Thurstone Scales (contd.) Advantages Easy to administer Requires minimum instructions Limitations Time consuming Expensive to construct Not as much diagnostic value as a Likert scale Values depend on the attitudes of the original judges

Semantic-Differential Scale Respondents rate each attribute object on a number of five or seven-point rating scales bounded by polar adjectives or phrases With bipolar scale, the midpoint is a neutral point

Semantic-Differential Scale (contd.) Pairs of objects or phrases selected must be meaningful in market being studied and correspond to product/service attributes Rotate negative pole on either side to avoid "halo" effect Category increments are treated as interval scales so group mean values can be computed for each object on each scale May also be analyzed as a summated rating scale

Profile Analysis Application of semantic differential scale Plot mean ratings for each object on each scale for visual comparison Overall comparison of brands hard to grasp with many brands and attributes Not all attributes are independent

Stapel Scales Uses one pole rather than two opposite poles Respondents select a numerical response category High positive score reflects good fit between adjective and object Easy to administer and construct No need to assure bipolarity

Associative Scaling Most effective for markets where respondent is knowledgeable only about a small subset of a large number of choices Appropriate to choice situations that involve a sequential decision process Best suited to market tracking where the emphasis is on understanding shifts in relative competitive positions

Continuous Rating Scales Respondents rate objects by placing a mark at appropriate position on a line running from one extreme of the criterion variable to the other Also called graphical rating scales Easy to construct Scoring is cumbersome and unreliable

General Guidelines For Developing A Multiple-Item Scale Determine clearly what you are going to measure Generate as many items as possible Ask experts in the field to evaluate the initial pool of items Determine the type of attitudinal scale to be used Include some items that will help in the validation of the scale Administer the items to an initial sample Evaluate and refine the items Optimize the scale length

Choosing An Attitudinal Scale Problems in choosing a scale Different techniques with different strengths and weaknesses Virtually any technique can be adapted to the measurement of any one of the attitude components Researchers’ choice shaped by The specific information required Adabtability of the scale to the data collection method and budget constraints Compatibility of the scale with the structure of the respondent’s attitude

Accuracy of Attitude Measurements Validity: An attitude measure has validity if it measures what it is supposed to measure Face or Consensus Validity The extent to which the content of a measurement scale appears to tap all relevant facets of the construct Criterion Validity Based on empirical evidence that the attitude measure correlates with other “criterion” variables Concurrent Validity Two variables are measured at the same time Predictive Validity The attitude measure can predict some future event

Accuracy of Attitude Measurements (Cont.) Convergent Validity A form of construct validity that represents the association between the measured construct and measures of other constructs with which the construct is related on theoretical grounds Discriminant Validity A form of construct validity that represents the extent to which the measured construct is not associated with which the construct is related on theoretical grounds Construct Validity A scale evaluation criterion that relates to the underlying question "what is the nature of the underlying variable or construct measured by the scale?"

Accuracy of Attitude Measurements (Contd.) Reliability The consistency with which the measure produces the same results with the same or comparable population Sensitivity Extent to which ratings provided by a scale are able to discriminate between the respondents who differ with respect to the construct being measured Generalizability Refers to the ease of scale administration and interpretation in different research settings and situations Relevancy Relevance = reliability * validity

Scales in Cross-national Research Responses Can Be Affected by: Low literacy and educational levels Culture; semantic differential scale is closest to pan-cultural scale Adapting response formats, particularly their calibration, for specific countries and cultures