The influence of positive and negative wording and issue involvement on responses to Likert scales in marketing research

Two experiments were conducted refining the results found in previous studies about the effects of positively and negatively worded statements used in marketing research under conditions of high versus low issue involvement.
  

The Influence of Positive and Negative Wordingand Issue Involvement on Responses to Likert Scales in Marketing Research

Rajendar K. Garg Indiana University of Pennsylvania

INTRODUCTION

There has been a historical predominance of positively worded questions/statements in questionnaires soliciting consumer attitudes. Some of the consumer attitudinal studies that have employed Likert or dichotomous statements/questions have also shown that consumers tended to give conflicting responses because of the change in the positive versus negative polarity in those statements (see for example, Falthzik & Jolson 1974; Bishop 1990). Recently, marketing researchers have found that the positive versus negative message...

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