Chapter Nine

Attitude MeasurementAttitude Measurement

What is an Attitude• A mental state used by individuals to

structure the way they perceive the environment and guide the way they respond to it

• Essence of the ‘human change agent’ – influencing attitudes can influence how you behave

• Great diagnostic / explanatory value – why consumers buy / don’t buy

• Overwhelming amount of primary research in marketing deals in measuring attitudes

Formation of attitudes (MAAM)• Belief about a brand = Attribute x strength of

its association with brand• Importance of attribute moderates belief

strength• Sum of moderated beliefs = attitude to brand• Interpret the figure according to the direction

of the scale• Interpret the figure relative to attitude

measures for competing brands• Multi Attribute Attitude Modeling (MAAM)

Multi-Attribute Attitude Models n

Ab = bi ei

i = 1

Ab = attitude toward brand

bi = belief about the relationship

between brand and attribute i

ei = attribute importance weight i

n = number of salient attributes

Multi-Attribute Attitude ModelsExample

Value Store Store Store Attribute (ei) X Y Z

Wide Selection 0.3 +2 +3 +3

Low Price 0.2 +3 -2 -1

High Quality 0.3 -1 +3 +1

Convenient 0.2 +2 +2 +3 location

biei for Store X: (0.3)(+2) + (+3)(0.2) + (-1)(0.3) + (+2)(0.2) = 1.3

biei for Store Y: (+3)(0.3) + (-2)(0.2) + (+3)(0.3) + (+2)(0.2) = 1.8

biei for Store Z: (+3)(0.3) + (-1)(0.2) + (+1)(0.3) + (+3)(0.2) = 1.6

Attitude Research

Attitude Action/Behavior

Three Components of Attitude

Affective Component

Cognitive Component

Action Component

Attitude components• Cognitive component

– Awareness of object– Knowledge of attributes of object– Judgments of

• importance of attributes of object• Satisfaction• Etc.

• Affective component– Feelings and emotions

• Conative component– ‘drive’ to act / behave – motivation– Desire

• Attitude is a three – dimensional construct

Ideas, Concepts, Constructs and Variables• E.g. “I want to make advertising that is

“cool”, “hip” and “edgy”• Can you lay down clear boundaries

between “cool”, “hip” and “edgy”?

Ideas, Concepts, Constructs and Variables• E.g. “I want to make advertising that is

“contemporary” and “effective”• Can you lay down clear boundaries

between the two?

Ideas, Concepts, Constructs and Variables• 1. E.g. “Did you feel that you identified

yourself with the characters / situation in the ad?”

• Not in the least 1 2 3 4 5 Completely

• Variable: • E.g. “Did you buy the product when you

last went to the store?” Y/N• Variable:

Construct vs. Variable• Construct

– An idea / concept which stands on its own

– In the conceptual / abstract domain

– E.g. attitude, satisfaction, love, romance, commitment, motivation, etc.

– May have several dimensions e.g. dimensions of attitude, etc.

• Variable– The operationalization

of the construct– A variable can be

measured– E.g. the

operationalization of attitude is “liking”; of romance could be “attraction” etc.

– If a construct has several dimensions, its variable has several factors e.g. factors of attitude, etc.

Measurement and Scaling• Measurement – standardized process of

assigning numbers / symbols to characteristics of objects according to pre-specified rules– One-to-one correspondence between the number /

symbol and the characteristic– Assignment to be invariant over time and objects

• Scaling – process of creating a continuum on which objects are located according to the amount of the measured characteristic they possess

Classification of attitude scales

Attitude Scales

Single-Item Scales

Continuous Scales

Itemized Category Scales

Comparative Scales

Paired Comparison Scales

Rank-Order Scales

Constant Sum

Scales

Pictorial Scales

Multi-Item Scales

Stapel Scales

Likert Scales

Semantic Differential

Scales

Continuous ScalesHow would you rate Sears as a department

store?Version 1:Probably the worst --------------------------------------------

Probably the bestVersion 2:Probably the worst --------------------------------------------

Probably the best

Problems: Unreliable in interpretation hence not widely used

Typical Attitude Rating Scales• Single item scales – Only one item to

measure the construct• Comparative• Rank order• Pictorial• Constant sum

• Multi-item rating scales – More than one item to measure the construct

• Likert• Semantic Differential• Stapel

Single Item rating scales• Advantages

– Relatively quick, uncomplicated measurement– Relatively simple to analyze

• Problems– Can one item measure all the dimensions of the

construct?

Single item scales• Itemized-category scales

– Labels each category on the scale• Example:• What is your overall satisfaction with

McDonald’s Hamburgers– Very satisfied– Quite satisfied– Somewhat satisfied– Not at all satisfied

What are the problems with this scale

Single item scales• Comparative Scales – forces respondent to

evaluate the object w.r.t. another, on the same attribute

• Example:• Compared to other fast food restaurants,

how would you rate McDonald’s Hamburgers on taste– Very superior– Superior– Neither superior or inferior– Inferior– Very inferior

What are the problems with this scale

• How will you overcome this problem?

Single item scales• Rank-order scales –

– requires respondents to arrange a set of objects with regard to a common criterion e.g. interest in an ad, brand preferences, etc.

• Closely corresponds with the choice process since buyers make direct comparisons amongst competing alternatives

Rank Order Scales

Brand A _____Brand B _____Brand C _____Brand D _____Brand E _____Brand F _____Brand G _____Brand H _____Brand I _____

Please rank the following in order of your preference where 1 = your most preferred and 9 = your least preferred.

What are the problems with this scale

• How will you improve this scale?

Single item scales• Constant sum scaling

– Allocate a fixed number of rating points amongst several objects / attributes to reflect relative preference for the objects / importance of the attributes

– Multi-attribute model importance weights

Constant Sum Scale• Divide 100 points among the following attributes

of a PC in terms of how important they are to you in making a purchase decision.

Clock Speed: 30Hard drive size:20RAM size: 10Price: 40

TOTAL 100

Possible problems with this scale?

Single item scales• Pictorial Scales

– Various levels of the scale are depicted pictorially

– Generally used when surveying children / illiterate samples

Pictorial Scales•

Interviewer says: Eating Honey Munch Cereal makes me feel:

Designing Scales• Number of Scale Categories

• 2 to infinity (Problems?)• 5 – 7 preferred

• Strength of the Anchors• colorful vs. very colorful vs. extremely colorful• Strong anchors are less likely to be used

• Balance of a Scale• balanced vs. unbalanced (problems with

unbalanced scales?)• Equal number of categories on both sides

Designing Scales• Types of poles used in the scale

• Sweet and not-sweet vs. sweet and bitter• Problems?

• Labeling of the Categories• no labels vs. some labels vs. all labels• Labeling reduces ambiguity• Labeling also causes cracks

Designing scales• Number of response alternatives

– Five to seven is a good number– Two to three generally stifle responses and

frustrate respondents– More than nine is superfluous– An odd number is preferred since a neutral

position can be legitimately adopted• “Don’t Know” option

– Use it when there is a distinct possibility– Overuse may attract fence-sitters’ responses

Multiple Item Scales• Attitudes to complex objects like cars,

insurance, credit cards, etc. may have many facets

• Unrealistic to expect just one item to capture all these facets

• Here we use multi-item scales• Example: Attitudes to Winthrop University

Likert Scale• Require respondents to indicate their

degree of agreement / disagreement with a variety of statements related to the attribute or object

• Also called summated scales because scores on individual items are summed to obtain scores for respondents

Likert scale example – Satisfaction survey of Bank

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

Courteous service

1 2 3 4 5Convenient locations

1 2 3 4 5

Convenient hours 1 2 3 4 5Low interest loans

1 2 3 4 5

Semantic Differential Scale• Used to describe a set of beliefs that

comprise a person’s image of an object• Each scale item is bounded at each end by

a polar adjective or phrase / bipolar adjectives or phrases

• Can be spatially represented on profile maps to a clearer understanding

Semantic Differential Scale

Low Price

Bitter

SmoothTangy

ConsistentQuality

SpottyQuality

High Price

Not Bitter

1 1

Stapel Scale

Heavy TangyConsistent Quality

-3

-2

-1

+1

+2

+3

-3

-2

-1

+1

+2

-3

-2

-1

+1

+2

+3 +3

Exercise – Identify the scale

Exercise – Identify the scale

Accuracy of Attitude Measurements• Reliability

– Does the scale perform consistently over time and over different sets of respondents?

– Test-Retest reliability: administering the same scale at two different points in time to the same / different sample

– Absence of reliability induces random error in the measurement

– Reliability of 0.7 and above is generally good

Reliability of Attitude to Brand scale from Marketing Literature• On a scale of 1 to 5, please rate your feelings

about Pantene:Bad 1 2 3 4 5 Good Dislike very 1 2 3 4 5 Like very

much muchUnpleasant 1 2 3 4 5 PleasantPoor quality 1 2 3 4 5 High quality

Reliability: 0.88Source: Mitchell Andrew A. & J. C. Olsen (1981), “Are Product Attribute

Beliefs the only Mediator of Advertising Effects on Brand Attitudes?” Journal of Marketing Research, 18 (3), (August) 318-32

Accuracy of Attitude Measurements• Validity

– Does the scale measure what it is intended to measure?

– Absence of validity induces systematic error in the measurement i.e. the scale is measuring something else over and above the construct in question (e.g. attitudes)

– A valid measure is one that reflects the true score

Accuracy of attitude measurements• Observed score = true score + systematic

error + random error• Hence a valid measure has both zero

systematic and random errors• If random error is zero (i.e. the scale is

perfectly reliable) it may still not be valid– The scale may be consistently measuring

something else• Hence reliability is a necessary but not

sufficient pre-condition of validity

Types of validity• Face validity – a knowledgeable conclusion

about the scale validity• Convergent validity

– Criterion validity – does the variable predict another variable satisfactorily• Does attitude to brand predict purchase intentions,

both measured at the same time?– Predictive validity – if the DV is measured in the

future• Does college GPA predict the amount of salary you

earn in the future?• Does attitude to brand predict future buying behavior?

Types of validity• Discriminant validity

– Is your construct different from another construct

– Are attitude to brand and purchase intentions two different constructs, or the same construct with two different labels?

– Effect of attitude to brand and purchase intentions on purchase behavior

• Construct validity– Conclusion about the measure after testing

reliability, convergent and discriminant validity

Accuracy of Attitude Measurements• Sensitivity

– Ability of the scale to capture meaningful differences in attitudes

– Can be achieved by increasing the levels but the greater the levels the lower the reliability

– Generally 5 to 7 levels are good• Generalizability

– Ease of scale administration and interpretation in different research settings

• Relevance– Validity x Reliability (between 0 to 1)– Meaningfulness to measure a construct

Accuracy of Attitude Measurements• Dimensionality

– Does the construct consist of only one dimension or more than one dimensions

– E.g. Attitudes – 1,2 or 3 dimensions?– Measured through a factor analysis