Attitude

Measurement

Jonali Sarma
INC, Guwahati
Objectives
• To learn about the various types of
attitude scales.

• To examine some basic

considerations in selecting a type of
scale.

• To realize the importance of attitude

measurement scales in management
decision making.
Attitude
 A position of the body or manner of
carrying oneself .
 Attitudes develop on the ABC
model (affect, behavioral change
and cognition).
 Attitude
• “ The sum total of Man’s inclinations
and feelings, prejudice or bias,
preconceived notions, ideas, fears,
threats and convictions about any
specific topic.” – Thrustone

• “ An attitude is an enduring
organization of cognitive, affective
and behavioral components and
process with respect to some aspect
of an individual’s world.” – Tull and
Hawkins
Components of Attitude

• Cognitive – deals with , a person’s

belief or knowledge about an object.

• Affective – deals with a person’s

likes or dislikes regarding an object.

• Behavioral – deals with the action

tendencies or predispositions
towards an object.
 Attitude Components and Manifestations

Manifestation
Initiator Component Attitude
Beliefs about
Cognitive specific attributes
or overall object.
Stimuli:

Products, Emotions or Overall

retail outlets, feelings about orientation
Affective specific attributes toward
sales personnel,
advertisements, or overall object. object.
and other
Behavioral
attitude objects.
intentions
Behavioral with respect to
specific attributes
or overall object.
 Attitude and Behaviour
 A product or service usage will be
maximum if the person develops a
positive attitude towards it.
 Attitudes of consumers towards
products that they have never tried
will be neutral.
 Consistency in attitude and behaviour
is
more when it is based on actual trial
and
experience rather when it is based on
Changing Attitude
The companies can attempt to change
the attitudes of customers towards a
product in three ways:

 Altering existing beliefs about a

product.

 Changing attitudes by changing the

importance of beliefs.

 Adding new beliefs.

 Attitude Scale

 An attitude scale is a set of items that measure a

single aspect of human behaviour, attitudes, or
feelings.

 Scaling is a process of measuring quantitative

aspects of subjective or abstract concepts.

 Scales are uni-dimensional or multi-

dimensional.
Types of Attitude scales

 Single Item Scales

 Multi-item Scales
 Single Item Scales
 Itemized category scales: respondents
have to select an answer from a limited
no. of ordered categories.
Indicate your opinion about eBay

Very bad Bad Neither bad Good Very Good

nor good
 Rank Order Scale

 It’s a comparative scale where the respondent is

asked to rate an item or a group of items against
each other based on a common criterion.
Brand Affordable High Stylish Great
Cost Mileage Pickup
Hero
Honda
TVS

Bajaj
 Comparative rating Scales

 This scale provides all respondents with a

common frame of reference.

 By virtue of its common frame of reference,

it allows the researcher to be confident that all

respondents are answering the same question.

 But sometime a standard frame of reference

may not necessarily be meaningful to all

respondents.
 Comparative Scale

 Here the researcher provides a point of

comparison for respondents to provide answers.
 All respondents will have a uniform point of
comparison for selecting answer.

Rate the product X in comparison to the product Y

Both are Poor Very Poor

Excellent Very Good
same
Good
 Paired Comparison Scale
 This scale consists of a question seeking
comparative evaluations of two objects at a time

Paired Comparison Scale for a toothpaste

Select one item each from the following pairs that is most
important to you
a. Fights decay b. Affordable
a. Affordable b. Germ protection
a. Germ protection b. Fights decay
 Constant Sum Scale
 This scale has a neutral starting point (zero) and
asks respondents to allocate a set of points
among several attitude objects.
Please assign values as you think to different
attributes:
Price
Style
Mileage
Pick up
Colour
Comfort
Total 100
Graphic Rating Scale Stressing
Pictorial Visual Communications

3 2 1
Very Very
Good Average Poor
 Continuous Scale

 Its very easy to develop but difficult but rarely

used in actual research as they do not give
accurate results and the scoring process is
complicated.

How would you rate the overall service of

Blue Dart?
Best------------------------------------------------------Worst
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
 Multi - Item Scale

 A multi–item scale consists of statements

pertaining to the attitude object, each with a
rating scale attached to it.
 Semantic Differential scale
Stapel scale
Likert Scales
Thurstone scales
 Semantic Differential scale
 Semantic differential scales are used to
describe a set of beliefs that underline a
person’s attitude towards an organization,
product or brand.
 This scale is based on the principle that
individuals think dichotomously or in terms of
polar opposites such as reliable-unreliable,
modern-old fashioned.
 Semantic Differential Scale
A series of seven-point bipolar rating scales.
Bipolar adjectives, such as “good” and “bad”,
anchor both ends (or poles) of the scale.

A weight is assigned to each position on the

rating scale. Traditionally, scores are
7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, or +3, +2, +1, 0, -1, -2, -3.
Slow 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Fast
Plain 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Stylish
 SEMANTIC DIFFERENTIAL SCALES
FOR MEASURING ATTITUDES
TOWARD TENNIS
Exciting ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : Calm

Interesting ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : Dull

Simple ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ Complex

Passive ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ Active

 Stapel Scale

Modern versions of the Staple

scale place a single adjective as a
substitute for the semantic
differential when it is difficult to
create pairs of bipolar adjectives.
Stapel Scale for Measuring a Store’s Image

Department
Store Name
+3
+2
+1
Wide Selection
-1
-2
-3
Likert Scales
 An extremely popular means for
measuring attitudes. Respondents
indicate their own attitudes by
checking how strongly they agree or
disagree with statements.
 Response alternatives: “strongly
agree”, “agree”, “uncertain”,
“disagree”, and “strongly disagree”.
LIKERT SCALE FOR MEASURING ATTITUDES
TOWARD TENNIS

Playing tennis is a great way to

exercise.
___Strongly Agree
___Agree
___Not Sure
___Disagree
___Strongly Disagree
 Thurstone Scales
 Select a group of 80 to 100 items indicating the
different degrees of favourable attitude towards a
concept.
 These items are given to a group of judges to
categorize them.
 The judges are asked to treat intervals between
categories as equal.
 Once the results are obtained, all those items that
have a consensus are selected.
 These results are then distributed uniformly on a
scale of favourability.
 Then results are administered to a set of
respondents.
Profile Analysis

 Two or more items are rated by

respondents simultaneously.
 It is an application of semantic
differential scale.
 It is difficult to interpret the profiles
as the number of objects increases.
 Profile Analysis
1 2 3 4 5
Stylish . . . . . Old fashioned
Affordable . . . . . Expensive
High Brand Value . . . . . Low Brand Value
High range . . . . . Low Range
More no. of Lesser no. of
Outlets . . . . . Outlets

Levis Lee Wrangler

 Rating Scales
The emphasis of the rating scales is on -

a)An overall attitude towards an object, such as

Diet Coke.
b)The existence level of a particular attribute in an
object, like sweetness.
c)An individual’s feelings towards an attribute of
an object, such as liking the taste.
d)The importance associated with an attribute ,as
the absence of caffeine.
 Rating asks the respondent to
estimate the magnitude of a
characteristic, or quality, that an
object possesses. The respondent’s
position on a scale(s) is where he or
she would rate an object.
Considerations in Selecting a
Scale

 Balanced Versus Unbalanced scales

Number of categories
Odd or Even Number of scale
categories
Forced Versus Unforced Choice
 Balanced Scale

 A balanced scale has an equal number of

positive/favorable and negative/unfavorable
response choices.

 What is your overall rating of eBay in comparison

with other auction websites?

Much About the Much
Worse Worse same Better Better
 UNBALANCED SCALE

 Unbalanced scale has more responses

distributed at one end of the scale where the
overall attitude of the respondent sample is likely
to fall.

How satisfied are you with the university bookstore?

Neither Satisfied Quite Very

Satisfied Nor Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Dissatisfied
 Forced Scales
 A forced-choice scale does not give respondents

the option to express a neutral or middle ground.

 Respondents needs to indicate an attitude on

the object, even if he has no attitude towards it.

What is your overall rating of eBay in comparison with

other auction websites?

Much Much
Worse Worse Better Better
 Non-forced Scales

 A nonforced-choice scale gives respondent

the option to express a neutral attitude.

Indicate your overall rating of sify website for

opening e-mail ID by placing a √ in the

appropriate box.

Very bad Bad Neither bad Good Very

nor good good