ATTITUDE MEASUREMENT

AND SCALING
TECHNIQUES

Attitude is one of the most pervasive

notions in all of the marketing
Plays a pivotal role in the major models
describing consumer behavior, as well as
in many, if not most investigations of
consumer behavior that do not rely on a
formal integrated model
Many marketers believe that attitudes
directly affect purchase decisions and
their purchase and use experiences,
in turn, directly affect their subsequent attitudes
toward the product or service

WHAT IS AN ATTITUDE?

It is defined as a predisposition to
respond to an idea or object
Attitudes are state-of-mind constructs
that are not directly observable
The true structure of an attitude lies in
the mind of individual holding that
attitude
In marketing it refers to the consumers
predisposition to respond to a
product , idea or service
If predisposition is favorable, it is assumed

that the

ELEMENTS OF ATTITUDES
Attitudes are composed of
Beliefs about the object of concern,
such as its strength or economy
Emotional feelings about the object
such as like and dislikes
And readiness of the individual to
respond behaviorally to the object that is
to buy it
There is tendency in marketing to bring
these three elements into what is called
image

Importance of Attitude measurement

1.

Attitude represents a predisposition to respond to an object,

not actual behavior toward the object. Attitude thus possess the
quality of readiness
2. Attitude is persistent over a period of time it can change, to be
sure, but alteration of an attitude that is strongly held requires
substantial pressure
3. Attitude is potential variable that produces
consistency in
behavior, either verbal or physical
4. Attitude has a directional quality it implies a preference
regarding the outcomes involving
The object
Evaluations of the object
Or positive/negative/neutral feelings for the object

5. Attitude measurement tends to focus on

measurement of
beliefs about a products
(services) qualities and emotional feelings about
those qualities
Attitudinal studies are useful in
Market segmentation
Advertisement effectiveness
Brand positioning or
Repositioning

THE CONCEPT OF MEASUREMENT AND

SCALING
Measurement can be defined as a standardized
process of assigning numbers or other symbols to
certain characteristics of the objects of interest
Researchers engage in using the measurement
process by assigning either numbers or labels

to peoples thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and

characteristics , the features or attributes of objects
Any type of phenomenon or event using specific
rules to represent quantities and qualities of the
factors being investigated

Measurement process consists of

Construct development
Scale measurement
The goal of construct development is:
to precisely identify and what is to be measured,
including any dimensionality traits
The goal of scale measurement is to
determine how to precisely measure each construct

To understand construct development and scale

development we must understand the term object
What is an object ?
It refers to any tangible item in a persons
environment that can be clearly and easily
identified through the senses
It has two properties:
Objective properties
Subjective properties

OBJECTIVE PROPERTIES

Researchers do not measure the objects per se but

rather the elements that makes up the object

Objective properties are used to identify and

distinguish an object from another
These properties represent attributes that make up
an object of interest and are
directly observable
Physically verifiable
and measurable in nature

Such as the physical and demographic

characteristics of a person age , sex , occupation
status , color of eye etc.
Or the actual number of purchases made of a
particular product
Or the tangible features of the object horsepower,
style, color, stereo system of an Automobile
etc.

Subjective properties
Subjective properties are abstract, intangible
characteristics that can not be directly observed or
measured
Why?
Because they are the mental images (aspects) a
person attaches to an object, such as :
Attitudes, feelings, perceptions, expectations, or
expressions of future actions (i.e., Purchase
intentions)

Construct development
can be viewed as an integrative process in which
researchers focus their efforts on Identifying the
subjective properties for which data should be
collected for solving the defined research problem

Objective propertiesEg. Air plane

no. Of engines
Heights
Weight
Length
Seating capacity
Physical characteristics of seats
Type of airplane

Air plane
Subjective properties
Quality of in flight service
Comfort ability of seats
Smoothness of take-off
and
landing etc.

Consumer
Objective properties :
Age, sex,
Marital status,
Income,
Brand last purchased,
Rupee amount of purchases
Types of products purchased
Color of eyes and hair

Consumer
Subjective properties
Attitudes towards a product

Brand loyalty
High involvement purchases
Emotions (love, fear, anxiety etc)
Intelligence, personality, risk taker

Organization

Objective properties

Name of company
No. Of employees
Total assets
Type and no. Of product offerings

Organization
Subjective properties

Competence of employees
quality control, channel power,
competitive advantage,
company image, consumer oriented
Practices etc

Scale measurement

Scaling is the process of creating a continuum

on
which objects are located according to the amount of the
measured characteristic they possess
There are several types of scales, each of which possesses
different characteristic
The characteristics of a scale determine the scales level
of measurement

Characteristics of scales

Description
Order
Distance
Origin

Description

Description refers to use of a unique descriptor, or

label, to stand for each designation in the scale
This property allows a researcher to take the
responses and categorize
them into mutually
exclusive groups each with its own identity
Any descriptor can be used for response

for instance, yes or no,

agree or disagree
and the number of years of a respondents age

Order
Order refers to the relative sizes of the descriptors or
relative magnitude between the descriptors, or
labels, used as scale points
Here the key word is relative and includes such
descriptors as greater thanless than &equal to

Example
1 is less than 5
Extremely satisfied is more intense than
somewhat satisfied
Most important has greater importance than only
slightly important
It allows the researcher to establish either a highest to
lowest or lowest to highest
Order identifies only the relative differences
between the responses and not the absolute
differences

Distance
A scale has the characteristic of distance when
absolute differences between the descriptors
are
known and may be expressed in units

ORIGIN

A scale is said to have a characteristic of

origin if there is a unique beginning or true zero
point for the scale
The origin property relates to a numbering system
where zero is displayed or referenced starting point
in a set of possible responses
Eg, Zero is the origin for an age scale just as it is
for number of miles traveled to the store

Each scaling property builds on the previous

one

THIS IMPLIES:
Any scale will have description property
A scale that includes order property
automatically possesses description property
A scale having distance property, has order
and description properties
The scale that is build on origin property also
have description, order, and distance
properties

Nominal scale

Nominal scales are defined as those that use only

label; that is, they possess only the characteristic
of description
The response does not include any level of
intensity
If one describes respondents in a survey according
to their occupation Banker, doctor, computer
programmer One has used a nominal scale

Examples

Designations as to race, religion,

Type of dwelling
Gender
Brand last purchased
Answers that involve yes-no, agree-disagree
Or any other instance in which descriptors can not be
differentiated except qualitatively

Nominal- scaled questions

Check all the brands you would consider
purchasing
I.

Sony
II.
Videocon
III. Samsung
IV. Lg

Do you agree or disagree that delta is

ready when you are?
Agree

disagree

I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.

Which of the following supermarkets have you

shopped in the last 30 days?
Ebony
Star mall
Sab mall
Migros
Sahara mall

Do you like or dislike chocolate ice

cream?
I. Like
II. Dislike

Ordinal scale

An ordinal scale is obtained by ranking objects or

arranging them in order with regard to some common
variable
The question is simply whether each object has more or
less than some other object
It permits the researcher to rank order the respondents
or their responses
The researcher can rank order the responses into
hierarchical pattern
This scale does not allow a researcher to determine the
absolute difference in any of the ordinal relationships

Ordinal- scaled questions

Please rank each brand in terms of your preference
Please place 1
by your first choice,
a 2
by your second choice, and so on
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.

Sony
Videocon
Samsung
Lg
Bpl
Phillips

Interval scale
Interval scales are those in which the distance between
each descriptor is known.
It demonstrates absolute differences between each scale
point
The distance is normally defined as one scale unit
For example, a coffee brand rated 3 in taste is one unit
away from one rated 4

Example
That is:
If you were asked to evaluate a stores sales people by
selecting a single designation from the list of

Extremely friendly
Very friendly
Some what friendly
Some what unfriendly
Very unfriendly
Extremely unfriendly

The researcher would probably assume that

each designation was one unit away from the
preceding one
In these cases we say that the scale is
assumed interval

INTERVAL SCALED
QUESTIONS
Please rate each brand in
terms of its overall
performance

BRAND

MONT BLANC
PARKER
CROSS

RATING (CIRCLE ONE)

VERY POOR
VERY GOOD
1

10

Indicate your degree of agreement with following

statements by circling the appropriate number

STATEMENT

STRONGLY
AGREE
I ALWAYS LOOK FOR BARGAINS
I ENJOY BEING OUT DOORS
I LOVE TO COOK

1
12
1

2
3
2

3
4
3

4
5
4

STRONGLY
DISAGREE
5
5

In a typical week (7 day

period), how often you access
internet from a home
computer?

___ MORE THAN 20 TIMES

___16 TO 20 TIMES
___11 TO 15 TIMES
___6 TO 10 TIMES
___1 TO 5 TIMES
___DO NOT ACCESS IT

Ratio scale

Ratio scales are the ones in which true zero origin

exists Such as

-- actual number of purchases in a certain time period,

-- rupees spent, miles traveled etc.
This characteristic allow us to construct ratios when
comparing the results of measurement
A ratio scale tends to be most sophisticated scale in the
sense that it allows the researcher not only to identify the
absolute differences between each scale point but also to
make absolute comparisons between the responses

RATIO-SCALED
QUESTIONS
Please indicate your age
--- Years

Approximately how many times

in the last month have you
purchased any thing over
rs.1000 in value at nanz store?
0

more ( specify_ )

How much do you think a

typical purchaser OF A rs. 5
lakh term life insurance policy
pays per month that policy?
Rs.__________

What is the probability that

you will use a lawyers services
when you are ready to make a
will?
______Percent

Typically the issues like

quantity sold
number of consumers probability of purchase
etc.
Form ratio scale measurement

Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, and Ratio Scales Provide Different

Information

Facts About the Four Levels of Scales

Facts About the Four Levels of Scales (contd)

EXAMPLE OF FOUR BASIC TYPES OF

QUESTION PHRASINGS:

Information requirement:
to determine how often
customers use their primary
automobile service providers
facilities / services

NOMINAL QUESTION
PHRASING:
When your vehicle requires maintenance
service or you have problems ,do you
usually take the vehicle to your primary
automobile service provider?
The logical response to this question
would be a
yes or no

ORDINAL QUESTION
PHRASING:
When your vehicle requires maintenance service
or you have problems, how often do you take it
to your primary automobile service provider?
(Check only one response)
The logical responses might be:
__Never
__seldom
__occasionally
__usually
__every time

INTERVAL QUESTION
PHRASING:
Since purchasing your

vehicle,
approximately how often have you
used the services at your primary
automobile service provider? (Check the
one appropriate response)

Less than 3 times

4 to 8 times
9 to 12 times
13 to 16 times
Over 16 times

RATIO QUESTION PHRASING:

In the past 12 months how many
times
did you take your vehicle for service
or repairs to your primary automobile
service provider?
___No. Of times

ASSESSING A RESPONDENTS LIKING OF

SOFTDRINKS WITH NOMINAL ORDINAL,
INTERVAL AND RATIO SCALES

Nominal scale
Which of the following soft drinks on the following list do
you like? Check all that apply

Coke
Thums up
Mountain dew
Pepsi
Seven up
Sprtie

Ordinal scale
Please rank the soft drinks on the following list according
to your degree of liking for each, assigninig most preferred
drink rank=1 and your
least preferred drink rank=6

Coke
Thums up
Mountain dew
Pepsi
Seven up
Sprtie

INTERVAL SCALE
Please indicate your degree of liking of each of the
softdrinks on the following list by checking the appropriate
position on the scale
Dislike

Coke
Thums up
Mountain dew
Pepsi
Seven up
Sprtie

dislike

like like a lot

RATIO SCALE
Please divide 100 points among each of the following soft
drinks according to your degree of liking for each

Coke
Thums up
Mountain dew
Pepsi
Seven up
Sprtie

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCALES AND SCALING

PROPERTIES
SCALING PROPERTIES
SCALE
ORIGIN

NOMINAL
NO
ORDINAL
NO
INTERVAL
NO
RATIO
YES

DESCRIPTION

ORDER

YES

NO

YES

YES

YES
YES

YES
YES

DISTANCE

NO
NO
YES
YES

SCALE AND TYPE OF STATISTICAL

TECHNIQUES
SCALE

NOMINAL

BASIC
CHARACTERISTICS

NUMBERS
IDENTIFY AND
CLASSIFY
OBJECTS

MARKETING PERMISSIBLE STATISTICS

EXAMPLES

BRAND
NUMBERS,
STORE TYPES

DESCRIPTIVE

INFERENTIAL

PERCENTAGES
MODE

Chi-SQUARE
BINOMIAL TEST

DESCRIPTIVE
ORDINAL

NUMBERS
INDICATE THE
RELATIVE
POSITIONS OF
THE OBJECTS
BUT NOT THE
MAGNITUDE OF
DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN THEM

INFERENTIAL

PREFERENCE
RANKINGS,
PERCENTILE, RANK ORDER
CORRELATION
MARKET
POSITION,
SOCIAL
FRIEDMAN
CLASS
ANOVA
PREFERENCE
MEDIAN
FOR BRANDS

DESCRIPTIVE
INTERVAL

DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN THE
OBJECTS CAN
BE COMPARED;
ZERO POINT IS
ARBITRARY

ATTITUDES, OPTIONS,
INDEX NUMBERS
ATTITUDES TOWARDS
BRANDS
GRADE POINT
AVERAGE

RANGE

INFERENTIAL

PRODUCT
MOMENTCORRELATIONS
MEAN
t TESTS
STANDARD
DEVIATIONS
ANOVA
REGRESSION
ANALYSIS
FACTOR ANALYSIS

DESCRIPTIVE
RATIO

ZERO POINT IS FIXED;

RATIOS OF SCALE VALUES
CAN BE COMPUTED

AGE,
INCOME,
COSTS,
SALES,
MARKET
SHARES
NO. OF
PURCHASES
PROBABILITY
OF PURCHASE

INFERENTIAL

GEOMETRIC
MEAN

HARMONIC MEAN

COEFFICIENT
OF VARIATION