Chapter Nine

1. Chapter Nine Attitude Measurement

2. Attitude Measurement • Majority of questions in marketing research are designed to measure attitudes • Attitudes include • Information possessed • Feelings of like and/or dislike • Intentions to behave • Management wants to understand and influence behavior

3. Reasons for Measuring Attitudes • Attitudes lead to behavior • More feasible to ask questions on attitudes than to observe and interpret behavior • Large capacity for diagnosis and explanation

4. Attitude Action/ Behavior Attitude Research • Attitudes directly affect purchase decisions and these in turn, directly affect attitudes.

5. What Are Attitudes? • Mental states used by individuals to structure the way they perceive their environment and guide the way they respond to it

6. Components of Attitude • Cognitive or Knowledge Component • Liking or Affective Component • Intentions or Actions Components

7. Three Components of Attitude Cognitive Component Affective Component Action Component

8. Measurement and Scaling Measurement • Standardized process of assigning numbers or other symbols to certain characteristics of objects of interests 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. Measurement and Scaling (Contd.) Scaling • Process of creating a continuum on which objects are located according to the amount of the measured characteristic that the object possesses

10. Measurement • Standardized process of assigning numbers to certain characteristics of objects • Type of measurement depends on type of data! Type of Measurement • Nominal • Ordinal • Interval • Ratio

11. Types of Scales and Their Properties Types of Scales and Their Properties

12. Measurement Scales: Nominal • Numbers identify and classify objects • No ordering or spacing are implied • Only possible arithmetic operation is a count of each category • Examples: • Players in a football team • Colors of traffic light • Gender

13. Measurement Scales: Ordinal • Objects are ranked in order • Numbers indicate the relative position of objects but not the magnitude of difference • Arithmetic operations are limited to statistics such as median or mode • Examples: • Result of 100 meter dash • Ranking of largest fast food companies

14. Measurement Scales: Interval • Object is measured on a continuum • Arbitrary zero point • Differences between objects can be compared • Entire range of statistical operations can be employed (mean, correlation, ANOVA, regression) • Examples: • Temperature • Attitudes

15. Measurement Scales: Ratio • Interval scale with fixed zero point • Ratio of scale values can be computed • Examples: • Weight, length • Age • Store sales • Market shares

16. Attitude Rating Scales • Present a respondent with a continuum of numbered categories that represent the range of possible attitude adjustments • Single item or multiple item scales

17. Attitude Scales • Attitude scales exist for each measurement type • The rating scale (interval data) is the most common type of attitude scale • Continuous scales • Single item scales • Multiple item scales

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

19. Continuous 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. • Easy to construct How would you rate Sears as a department store? Version 1: Probably the worst -------------------------------------------- Probably the best Version 2: Probably the worst -------------------------------------------- Probably the best 0 2 4 6 8 10

20. Single Item Scales • Only have one item to measure a construct • Itemized-category scale is most widely used by marketing researchers • Other single item scales • Comparative • Rank-order • Pictorial • Constant sum

21. Itemized Category Scales • Scales in which the respondent selects from a limited number of categories What is your overall satisfaction with McDonalds Hamburgers? Very satisfied Quite Satisfied Somewhat satisfied Not at all satisfied    

22. Brand B Flavor A Size A Brand B Flavor C Size C Brand A Flavor B Size A Rank Order Scales • Scale in which the respondent compares one item with another or a group of items against each other and ranks them

23. Constant Sum Scale • Respondents allocate a fixed number of rating points among several objects to reflect relative preference Divide 100 points among the following attributes of a PC Clock Speed: 30 Hard drive size: 20 RAM size: 10 Price: 40

24. Pictorial Scales • Various categories of the scale are depicted pictorially • Format must be comprehensible to respond and allow accurate responseExample: The taste of Honey Munch Cereal is:

25. Designing Single Item Scales • Number of Scale Categories • 2 to 15 • Strength of the Anchors • colorful vs. very colorful vs. extremely colorful • Labeling of the Categories • no labels vs. some labels vs. all labels • Balance of a Scale • balanced vs. unbalanced

26. Multiple-item Scales • Developed to measure a sample of beliefs toward the attitude objects and combine the set of answers into an average score • Multiple item Scales • Likert • Semantic Differential • Stapel • Associative Scaling

27. Likert Scale • Requires respondent to indicate degree of agreement or disagreement with a variety of statements related to the attitude object • Typically used for intangible constructs. Each item (statement) measures some aspect of the common construct. • Scores on individual items are summed to give total score for respondents

28. Likert Scale Satisfaction survey for a bank: Strongly Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Agree 1. The bank offers courteous  service 2. The bank has convenient  locations 3. The bank has convenient hours  4. The bank offers low interest  rate loans This is a single item Together, the 4 items constitute the scale

29. Analysis of Bank Survey Assign numbers to categories 1 2 3 4 5 Strongly Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Agree 2. Compute results: a) for each item compute mean across respondents (e.g. the average score for all respondents for item 1 is 3.5) b) for all items compute mean for each respondent (e.g. the average satisfaction score for respondents 1 is 3.0)

30. 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 • Used for image analysis, profile analysis

31. Characteristics of Semantic Differential Scales in Marketing Applications: • Pairs of objects or phrases must be meaningful in market being studied and often correspond to product/service attributes • Avoid "halo" effect by placing negative pole on either side • 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

32. Characteristics of Semantic Differential (Contd.) Profile Analysis • Application of semantic differential scale • Plot mean ratings of 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

33. Multiple-item Scales (Contd.) 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

34. 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 Finally, optimize the scale length Steps in multiple-item scale development

35. Accuracy of Attitude Measurements Validity • An attitude measure has validity if it measures what it is supposed to measure Face Validity • The extent to which the content of a measurement scale appears to tap all relevant facets of the construct 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?"

36. Accuracy of Attitude Measurements (Contd.) 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

37. 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 Relevancy • Relevance = reliability * validity

38. Scales in Cross-national Research Responses Can Be Affected by • Low literacy and educational levels • Culture in a country • Semantic differential scale is closest to pan cultural scale • Adapting response formats, particularly their calibration, for specific countries and cultures