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

2. Chapter Nine
Attitude Measurement

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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)

13. 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? _________

14. Types of Scales and Their Properties

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

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

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

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

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

22. 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

23. 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

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

25. 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 ______

26. 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

27. 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

28. Likert Scale – Example

29. 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

30. 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

31. 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

32. 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

33. 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

34. 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

35. 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

36. 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

37. 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

38. 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

39. 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

40. 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?"

41. 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

42. 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