Question

An auto dealership is attempting to determine the preferences of its customers. The dealership has employed your marketing research firm to determine the specific features of automobiles most desired by prospective customers. Discuss how you will construct a scale to achieve that objective.

Answer 1

The purpose of scale construction is to design a questionnaire that provides a quantitative measurement of an abstract theoretical variable. Good scales possess both validity and reliability. A scale has validity if it properly represents the theoretical construct it is meant to measure. A scale has reliability if repeated measurements under the same circumstances tend to produce the same results. These two concepts are very important to scale construction.

Psychological scales almost universally use items in a Likert scale format. The important characteristic of a Likert scale is that it has respondents answer questions by picking a response on a numerical continuum. The following is an example of a Likert scale question.

How much do you like playing Monopoly?

1 2 - not at all

3 4 5- somewhat

5 6 7 – very much

OR

1 or 2 – Strongly Disagree

2 or 3- Disagree

3 or 4 or 5 -Neither Agree nor Disagree

5 or 6 -Agree

7 - Strongly Agree

Research has shown that Likert scales with seven response options are more reliable than equivalent items with greater or fewer options.

So we will also be creating a Likert scale survey to capture what the consumers thinks of the features.

Some of the question would be-

Questions	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Sun roof is the key feature in any automobile	1	2	3	4	5
Air Bags should be mandatory for all seats	1	2	3	4	5
Electrical vehicle should be made compulsory in less than 5 years	1	2	3	4	5

Same questions with different answers-

Questions	Not at all	Some what	Neither Agree nor Disagree	Very Much	Must Have
Sun roof is the key feature in any automobile	1	2	3	4	5
Air Bags should be mandatory for all seats	1	2	3	4	5
Electrical vehicle should be made compulsory in less than 5 years	1	2	3	4	5

This scaled way you can find out what features do consumers like the most or do not like the most.