Brm chp07

ATTITUDE MEASUREMENTATTITUDE MEASUREMENT

Chapter - 7Chapter - 7

An attitude is a mental state involving beliefs, feelings, values and dispositions to act in a certain way. It can further be understood as a learned predisposition to respond consistently in a positive or negative manner towards different aspects of the world.

Meaning of Attitude MeasurementMeaning of Attitude Measurement

Components of AttitudeComponents of AttitudeAttitude has three components-• Cognitive Component• Affective Component• Behavioral Component

Example:

If a person says that he loves Britannia biscuits because they are tasty and always eats them, the statement comprises all these three components of an attitude.

Relationship between Attitudes and Relationship between Attitudes and BehaviorBehavior

The following critical aspects discovered by researchers are governing the attitudes and behavior of consumers.

• A product or service usage will be maximum if the person develops a positive attitude towards it. The converse is also true

• Attitudes of consumers towards products that they have never tried will be neutral

• When attitudes are developed based on actual trial and experience of a product, attitudes predict behavior effectively

Changing AttitudesChanging Attitudes

Marketers attempt to change existing attitudes to attract people and increase market value. For this, they resort to three major tactics:

• Altering existing beliefs about a product• Changing attitudes by changing the importance of

beliefs• Adding new beliefs

Association Between Measurement of Association Between Measurement of Beliefs and SituationBeliefs and Situation

It is generally found that there is a lesser relationship between researchers measurements and the actual prevailing situation. In other words, the match between what the researcher finds and what actually happens is low owing to a number of reasons.

Measurement ScalesMeasurement Scales

DEFINITION OF ATTITUDE SCALE: An attitude scale is a set of items (questions or

statements) that probe a single aspect of human behavior, attitudes, or feelings.

SCALING: It is the process of measuring quantitative

aspects of subjective or abstract concepts. It is a method to assign numbers or symbols to some attributes of an object.

TYPES OF ATTITUDE SCALESTYPES OF ATTITUDE SCALES

Attitude Scales

Single Item Scales

Continu-ous Scales

Multi Item Scales

Itemized Category Scales

Rank Order Scales

Compara-tive Scales

Constant Sum Scales

Paired Compari-son Scales

Pictorial Scales

Likert Scales

Semantic Differential Scales

Stapel Scales

Single Item Scales

• Single item scales are those with only one item to measure. The various types of single item scales are as follows:

Itemized category scales• Itemized category scales are those in

which respondents have to select an answer from a limited number of ordered categories. Respondents are given the scale that contains a number or a brief description about a particular category. These categories are ordered in terms of position of the scale and respondents have to select one category that they feel best describes the object.

Rank-order scales: • Rank order scales are comparative

scales, where the respondent is asked to rate an item in comparison with another item or a group of items against each other based on a common criterion.

• Comparative scales:• In comparative scales, the researcher provides

a point of comparison for respondents to provide answers. Thus, the respondents a uniform point of comparison for selecting answers.

Q-Sort scales:

• In Q-sort scales respondents are asked to sort out various characteristics or objects that are being compared into various characteristics or objects that are being compared into various groups so that the distribution of the various objects or characteristics in each group follows a normal pattern.

• Paired comparison scales: • In paired comparison scales, respondents are asked to

select one of two items in a pair based on pre-set criteria. As each item is compared with all other items, the number of times an item is selected from a pair gives its rank. The higher the number the better is the rank. A major advantage of this method is that the problem of order bias is eliminated as no set pattern is followed while providing respondents the pairs.

Constant sum scale:• In this, the respondents are asked to divide a

given number of points, usually 100, among two or more attributes based on the importance they attach to each attribute. Here respondents have to rate an item in relation with all other items. Ranking for each item is based on the points assigned by the respondent to the items.

Pictorial scales: • Here, the different types of scales are

represented pictorially. The respondents are asked to rate a concept or statement based on their intensity of agreement or disagreement, on a pictorial scale. These scales are generally used for respondents who cannot analyze complex scales, such as young children or illiterates.

Continuous scales:

• Continuous scales are those where respondents are asked to rate items being studied by marking at an appropriate place on a line drawn from one extreme of the scale to the other

MULTI-ITEM SCALES• These scales are used when it is difficult to

measure people’s attitudes based only on one attribute. The various types of multi-item scales are as follows:

Semantic differential scales:

• These scales are used to describe a set of beliefs that underline a person’s attitude towards an organization, product or brand. The respondents are asked to rate an attitude object on a set of itemized, seven-point rating scale, bounded by bipolar phrases or adjectives.

Stapel scales:• A stapel scale is an attitude measure that places a

single adjective or an attribute or an attribute describing an object in the centre of an even number of numerical values. In general, stapel scales are constructed on a scale of 10 ranging from -5 to +5, without a neutral point (zero). The respondent is asked to rate attributes on this scale.

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Likert scales:• Likert scales consist of a series of statements

where the respondent provides answers in the form of degree of agreement or disagreement. This expresses attitude towards the concept under study. The respondent selects a numerical score for each statement to indicate the degree of agreement or otherwise. Each such score is finally added up to measure the respondent’s attitude.

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Thurstone scales:

• In Thurstone scales, researchers select a group of 80 to 100 items indicating the different degrees of favorable attitude towards a concept under study. Once items are selected, they are given to a group of judges, who are asked to categorize them according to how much they favor or disfavor them.

• The judges are asked to treat intervals between categories as equal and analyze each item without expressing their own attitudes. Once the results are obtained, all those items that have a consensus from the judges are selected and items where there was no consensus are eliminated.

• These results are then distributed uniformly on a scale of favorability. This scale is then administered to a set of respondents for measuring their attitude towards a particular concept.

Profile AnalysisProfile Analysis

Profile analysis is a process where two or more objects are rated by respondents on a scale. Profile analysis can be considered as an application of the semantic differential scale.

CONSIDERATIONS IN SELECTING A CONSIDERATIONS IN SELECTING A SCALESCALE

Researchers tend to use those scales that are easy to administer and develop. For instance, a rank order scale can be quickly developed, while a semantic differential scale takes longer time and is cumbersome. It is also important to consider the client’s requirements before selecting a scale. The type of data that is needed also plays an important role in selection.

• Balanced Versus Unbalanced ScalesBalanced Versus Unbalanced Scales: a balanced scale is

one, which has the same number of positive and negative categories, while an unbalances scale is weighted towards one or the other end.

• Number of Categories: Number of Categories: it should be decided based on the research concept. It is always better to develop a scale that contains between five and nine categories.

• Odd or Even Number of Scale Categories: Odd or Even Number of Scale Categories: if a scale has an even number of categories, respondents who are actually neutral cannot express this feeling. Here an odd scale helps respondents. But deciding which scale to choose depends on the nature of research to be conducted.

• Forced Versus Unforced Choice: Forced Versus Unforced Choice: when the two categories “Don’t know” and “Neutral” are included in the scale, it becomes an unforced choice, as the respondents do not have to select a positive or negative opinion when they don’t have any opinion. Otherwise it is a forced choice.

Factors which are considered while selecting a scale are given below:

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