Measurement in Marketing Research

Marketing Research
Chapter 9.
Measurement in Marketing Research– step 7.

Marketing Research
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Measurement in Marketing Research.
A diagram of six alternative question-response formats

Marketing Research
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Measurement in Marketing Research.
Open-ended question
Unprobed: “What was your reaction to the Sony DVD player adv. you saw on TV?”
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Probed: “Did you have any other thoughts or reactions to the adv.?”
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Marketing Research
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Measurement in Marketing Research.
Closed-ended question
Dichotomous: “Do you agree or disagree with the statement ‘Sony DVD players are better than Panasonic DVD players’?”
Multiple-category: “If you were buy a DVD player tomorrow, which brand would you be most likely to purchase? Would it be, (a) Panasonic, (b) General Electric, (c) Sony, (d) JVC, or (e) some other brand?”

Marketing Research
Chapter 9.
Measurement in Marketing Research.
Scaled-response question
Unlabeled: “On a scale of 1 to 7, how would you rate the Sony DVD player on ease of operation?”
Labeled: “Do you disagree strongly, disagree, agree, or agree strongly with the statement ‘Sony DVD players are a better value than General Electric DVD players’?”

Marketing Research
Chapter 9.
Measurement in Marketing Research.
Consideration in choosing a question-response format
How does the researcher decide on which potion to use?
Nature of the property being measured
The properties of the construct being measured often determine the appropriate response format.

Marketing Research
Chapter 9.
Measurement in Marketing Research.
Previous research studies
Data collection mode. The method of data collection determines the appropriate response format.
Ability of the respondent. Some respondents may relate better to one type of response format than another.
Scale level desired. If a researcher desires to use higher-level statistical analysis, the question’s response format must be corresponding.

Marketing Research
Chapter 9.
Measurement in Marketing Research.
Basic concepts in measurement.
measurement – is determining the amount or intensity of some characteristic of interest to the researcher.
measurement – is determining how much of a property is possessed by an object.
But what we are really measuring?
Properties (sometimes called attributes or qualities) of Object.

Marketing Research
Chapter 9.
Measurement in Marketing Research.
Scale characteristics are:
Description – refers to the use of a unique descriptor, or label, to stand for each designation in the scale.
Order – refers to the relative sizes of the descriptors.
Includes such descriptors, as “greater than”, “less then”, “equal to”.

Marketing Research
Chapter 9.
Measurement in Marketing Research.
A scale has the characteristic of distance when absolute differences between the descriptors are known and may be expressed in units.
A scale is said to have the characteristic of origin if there is a unique beginning or true zero point for the scale.

Marketing Research
Chapter 9.
Measurement in Marketing Research.
Why is it important to know the characteristics of scales
?

Marketing Research
Chapter 9.
Measurement in Marketing Research.
The characteristics possessed by a scale determine that scale’s level of measurement.
Measurement Scale levels differ by what scale characteristics they possess

Marketing Research
Chapter 9.
Measurement in Marketing Research.

Marketing Research
Chapter 9.
Measurement in Marketing Research.

Marketing Research
Chapter 9.
Measurement in Marketing Research.

Marketing Research
Chapter 9.
Measurement in Marketing Research.

Marketing Research
Chapter 9.
Measurement in Marketing Research.

Marketing Research
Chapter 9.
Measurement in Marketing Research.

Marketing Research
Chapter 9.
Measurement in Marketing Research.
Workhorse scales used in marketing research
Marketing research often wish to measure subjective properties of consumers.
Subjective constructs:

Marketing Research
Chapter 9.
Measurement in Marketing Research.
Scaled-response questions are used to measure unobservable constructs

Marketing Research
Chapter 9.
Measurement in Marketing Research.
The modified Likert Scale

Marketing Research
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Measurement in Marketing Research.

Marketing Research
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Measurement in Marketing Research.
What if you have a REAAALLY long Questionnaire?

Marketing Research
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Measurement in Marketing Research.
The Semantic differential scale

Marketing Research
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Measurement in Marketing Research.

Marketing Research
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Measurement in Marketing Research.
There are a great many variations of scaled-response question format used in marketing research.
Several examples are provided lower:

Marketing Research
Chapter 9.
Measurement in Marketing Research.

Marketing Research
Chapter 9.
Measurement in Marketing Research.
Issues in the use of sensitivity scales
Using scaled-response formats requires the researcher to confront 2 issues.
Whether or not to include the middle, neutral-response option.
What are the arguments for and against the inclusion of a neutral response position in a scale?
2. Is there a need to have a completely symmetric scale?

Marketing Research
Chapter 9.
Measurement in Marketing Research.
Now you understand the basic concepts of measurement
and have become acquainted with the workhorse scales and other scales used by marker researcher.
What scale to use when
And we may have a quick reference to appropriate scales pertaining to the constructs most often measured by market researchers.

Marketing Research
Chapter 9.
Measurement in Marketing Research.
Reliability and validity of measurement
Ideally, a measurement used by a market researcher should be reliable and valid.
Picture a bull’s eye target with several bullet holes clustered very close together, but off the center of the target. This is reliability: the rifle was pointed at the center, but bullets were consistently off-center and in one spot. When the rifle sights are aligned so that the bullet hits dead center when the rifle is aimed there, it is valid. If the holes are consistently in the center area, the sight is valid and reliable

Marketing Research
Chapter 9.
Measurement in Marketing Research.
Face validity (an intuitive form of judgment): Does the question “look like” it measures what it is supposed to measure?