Page 100 - DMGT404 RESEARCH_METHODOLOGY

Research Methodology

Notes 2. Suppose, we are interested in the attitude of certain socio-economic class of respondents
towards savings and investments. The final list of statements would be as follows:
(a) One should live for the present and not the future. So, savings are absolutely not
required.
(b) There are many attractions to spend the money saved.
(c) It is better to spend savings than risk them in investments.

(d) Investments are unsafe as the money is also blocked.
(e) You earn to spend and not to invest.
(f) It is not possible to save these days.
(g) A certain amount of income should be saved and invested.

(h) The future is uncertain and investments will protect us.
(i) Some amount of savings and investments are a must for every individual.
(j) One should try to save more so that most of it could be invested.
(k) All savings should be invested for the future.

Conclusion: A respondent agreeing to statements 8, 9 and 11 would be considered having a
favourable attitude towards savings and investments. The person agreeing with statements
2, 3 and 4 is an individual with an unfavourable attitude. Also, if a respondent chooses
statements 1, 3, 7 or 9, his attitude is not considered consistent.

Multidimensional Scaling

This is used to study consumer attitudes, particularly with respect to perceptions and preferences.
These techniques help identify the product attributes that are important to the customers and to
measure their relative importance. Multi-Dimensional Scaling is useful in studying the following:
1. (a) What are the major attributes considered while choosing a product (soft drinks, modes
of transportation)? (b) Which attributes do customers compare to evaluate different brands
of the product? Is it price, quality, availability etc.?

2. Which is the ideal combination of attributes according to the customer? (i.e., which two or
more attributes consumer will consider before deciding to buy.)
3. Which advertising messages are compatible with the consumer's brand perceptions?

Notes The multidimensional scaling is used to describe similarity and preference of brands.
The respondents were asked to indicate their perception, or the similarity between various
objects (products, brands, etc.) and preference among objects. This scaling is also known as
perceptual mapping.
There are two ways of collecting the input data to plot perceptual mapping:
1. Non-attribute method: Here, the researcher asks the respondent to make a judgment
about the objects directly. In this method, the criteria for comparing the objects is decided
by the respondent himself.

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