Attitude Measurement

Learning Objectives
1. To understand the linkage among attitudes,
behavior and marketing effectiveness

2. To become familiar with the concept of scaling

3. To learn about the various types of attitude

scales

4. To examine some basic considerations in

selecting a type of scale

5. To realize the importance of attitude

measurement scales in management decision
making
 What is attitude?

• “Attitude is a mental state that predisposes the

individual to respond in a certain way when he
or she is subjected to a given stimulus”.
- Ronald M Weiers

• An enduring organization of motivational,

emotional, perceptual, and cognitive
processes with respect to some aspect of a
person’s environment.
 General methods of
measuring attitude data

• Observation

• Questionnaire

• Interview
 What Is An Attitude?

Object
Manifested dimensions
and attributes

Cognitive Component Affective Component Conative Component

Beliefs about Emotions or feelings Behavioral intention
the object about the object toward the object

Attitude
Overall expressive
orientation toward
the object
Attitude toward object model

This Fishbein’s model is a popular

one which is normally represented
in the form k

AttitudeO = biei
• Where, i=1

– bi is the strength of the belief that the person

holds towards the i th attribute of the object
– ei is the persons affect evaluation ( express
feeling or importance ) of the belief towards that
i th attribute of the object
 Attitude toward behavior model

• interest is in capturing a person’s attitude

towards his or her behavior with a given object
rather than attitude toward the object itself.
Measured by
Attitude(beh) = biai n

• Where
– bi is strength of a persons belief
i = 1 that the i th
specific action will lead to a specific outcome
– ai is the person’s expressed feeling (affect ) toward
the i th action outcome
 Affect Global Approach

• Is in contrast to the trilogy approach

• Person’s feelings
• Emphasis on person’s global feeling
of an object
• Limitation
 Changing attitudes

• Altering existing beliefs of the product

• Changing attitude by changing the

importance of beliefs
• Adding new beliefs
 Association between measurement of
beliefs and situation

– Complex

– Predictions for a group tend to be more

accurate than predictions for a single
consumer.
 Attitudes, Behavior, and Marketing
Effectiveness

• Six factors when assessing if

attitude research findings :
1. Involvement of the consumer.
2. Attitude measurement.
3. Effects of other people.
4. Situational factors.
5. Effects of other brands.
6. Attitude strength.
 Why the Level of a Scale
is Important

• The choice of the level of measurement

of a scale affect which analyses should
or should not be performed
– The analysis greatly affects what may or
may not be said about the property being
measured
 Why the Level of a Scale
is Important . . .

• The measurement level of a scale

determines the proper way for the
researcher to summarize findings
– Metric Scales use averages

– Categorical Scales use percentages or

frequency distributions
 A Classification of Scaling
Techniques
Scaling Techniques
Scaling Techniques

Comparative Noncomparative
Scales Scales

Paired
Single item Constant
Rank
scales Other
Multi-item Scales
Continuous Itemized
Comparison Order Sum Procedure Rating ScalesRating
s Scales

Semantic Stapel
Likert
Differential
 Single item scales

• Itemised category scales

• Rank order scales
• Comparative scales
• Constant sum scales
• Q-Sort
• Paired comparison scales
• Pictorial scales
 Itemized Rating Scales
The XYZ Corporation offers me the best
value in dental products among all the
companies I buy from.

1 2 3 4 5
strongly strongly
disagree agree
Less costly and time-consuming to code
Can force people into limited response
categories
Preference for Toothpaste Brands
Using Rank Order Scaling

Form
Brand Rank Order
1. Crest _________

2. Colgate _________

3. Aim _________
4. Gleem _________
6. Macleans
5. Ultra Brite _________
_________
7. Close Up _________
8. Pepsodent _________
9. Plus White _________
10. Stripe _________
 COMPARATIVE RATING SCALE

A COMPARATIVE RATING SCALE ASKS

RESPONDENTS TO RATE A CONCEPT BY
COMPARING IT WITH A BENCHMARK.

Please indicate how the amount of authority in

your present position compares with the
amount of authority that would be ideal for this
position.

TOO MUCH ABOUT RIGHT TOO

LITTLE
 Constant Sum Scaling

• Divide 100 points among the following

Marriott employees according to how
important each is to the comfort of your
stay. You can give as much or as little to
each person or department, as long as the
total for the column sums to $100.
Front desk staff _____
Room service staff _____
Housekeeping staff _____
Bellhop _____
Reservation staff _____
Restaurant staff _____
 Paired Comparisons
• the respondents are presented with two
objects at a time and asked to pick the one
they prefer.
• the number of comparisons increases
geometrically (n*(n -1)/2).
• If the number of comparisons is too great,
respondents may fatigue and no longer
carefully discriminate among them.
 Paired Comparison Scale
For each of the following pairs, which soft-drink do you think is
better (please check one soft-drink for each pair).

____Coca-Cola or ______7-Up
____7-Up or ______Pepsi-cola
____Tab or ______Coca-Cola
____Dr. Pepper or ______Pepsi-cola
____ Pepsi-cola or ______Tab
____ Coca-Cola or ______ DR. Pepper
____ Pepsi-cola or ______Coca-Cola
____Tab or ______ Dr. Pepper
____7-Up or ______Tab
____ Dr. Pepper or ______ 7-Up
 Q-Sort scales

• Definition
to sort out various characteristics or
objects that are being compared into
various groups so that the distribution of
the number of objects in each group
follows a normal pattern
Q-Sort scales
 Graphic Rating Scales

■ A graphic rating scale presents

respondents with a graphic continuum.
 Multi-item Scales

• Likert scales
• Semantic differential scales
• Stapel scales
• Thurstone scales
• Guttman scales
 Likert Scales

• Define
The Likert technique presents a set
of attitude statements. Subjects are
asked to express agreement or
disagreement of a five-point scale.

Each degree of agreement is given

a numerical value from one to five.
Thus a total numerical value can be
calculated from all the responses.
 Likert

– Instead of a dichotomous response scale

(agree or disagree), use a multi-point
response scale like this:
 Likert Scales

Merits Demerits
• its relatively easy • it cannot tell how much
more or how much
• more reliable less
– scope in these scales to
measure the degree of
• the total score of the
response respondent has little
meaning
• highly suitable to
studies that are
respondent and stimuli
oriented
 Semantic Differential

• It is used to describe a set of believes

that underline a person’s attitude
towards an organisation , product or
brand

• Principle
– Individuals think in terms of polar
opposites
 Semantic Differential
The following questions concern your ratings of several
suppliers that provide products for use in your operatory.
Please answer each question for each of the specified
suppliers.

HIGH QUALITY ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ LOW QUALITY

LOW PRICES ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ HIGH PRICES

POOR ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ GOOD

SELECTION SELECTION

QUICK ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ SLOW

SERVICE SERVICE

INNOVATIVE ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ???????????

Semantic Differential
 Stapel Scale

• It uses counterbalancing positive and negative

numbers for respondents to express degrees
of positive or negative feelings about a
property of an object
– Easier to construct, conduct and administer

• The Stapel scale is a unipolar rating scale with

ten categories numbered from -5 to +5, without
a neutral point (zero). This scale is usually
presented vertically.
 Stapel Scale
SEARS
+5 +5
+4 +4
+3 +3
+2 +2X
+1 +1
HIGH QUALITY POOR SERVICE
-1 -1
-2 -2
-3 -3
-4X -4
-5 -5
The data obtained by using a Stapel scale can be
analyzed in the same way as semantic differential
data.
 Thurstone Scales
• Definition
Researchers select a group of 80 to
100 items indicating different degrees
of favourable attitudes
Rating the Potential Scale Items
– Judges rate the items on 11-point scale
– 1 = agreement indicates very low amount of the
attribute
– 11 = agreeing indicates very high amount of the
attribute
– encourage judges to use entire range of scale,
assigning some statements to each of the 11
values – sort them into 11 piles.
Thurstone -example
 Thurstone Scales

Demerits
• Thurstone scales are rarely used
these days.

• They are just too much trouble to

create.

• Likert scales were developed in

response to this difficulty
 Guttman Scales

– The scalogram analysis also computes a

scale score value for each statement.
– Consider this example:
Check the statement that you feel best
describes you:
 Sometimes I worry about things.
 Frequently I worry about things.
 Most of the time I am in a state of worry.
 I worry all the time and it is ruining my life.
Consideration in selecting a scale

• Balanced vs unbalanced scale

• Number of categories
• Odd or even number of scale
categories
• Forced vs unforced choice
• Nature and degree of verbal
description
 Balanced and Unbalanced Scales

Jovan Musk for Men is Jovan Musk for Men is

Extremely good Extremely good
Very good Very good
Good Good
Bad Somewhat good
Very bad Bad
Extremely bad Very bad
 Number of Scale Points

5 Point 10 Point
Excellent _____ Excellent _____
_____________
_____________
_____ _____________
_____________

_____ _____________
_____________
_____________
_____ _____________

Poor _____________

Poor _____
 Customized Rating Scales
Building Blocks of Scale Construction
Odd vs. Even Scale Points
Odd Even
Strongly Agree _____ Strongly Agree_____
Agree _____ Agree _____
Neutral _____ Disagree _____
Disagree _____ Strongly disagree___
Strongly disagree_____
 Forced vs. Unforced Scales

Forced Unforced

Extremely Reliable ___ Extremely Reliable ___

Very Reliable ___ Very Reliable ___

Somewhat Reliable ___ Somewhat Reliable ___

Somewhat Unreliable ___ Somewhat Unreliable ___

Very Unreliable ___ Very Unreliable ___

Extremely Unreliable ___ Extremely Unreliable ___

Don’t know ___
 Labeled vs. End Anchored Scales

Labeled
End Anchored
Excellent _____
Excellent _____
Very Good _____ _____
Fair _____ _____
Poor _____ _____
Very Poor _____ Poor _____
Rating Scale Errors to Avoid

• Leniency
– Negative Leniency
– Positive Leniency

• Central Tendency
• Halo Effect
 Scale Design Techniques

• Arbitrary scaling
• Consensus scaling
• Item Analysis scaling
• Cumulative scaling
• Factor scaling