This document summarizes research comparing different survey question designs for measuring attribute importance among Hispanic and non-Hispanic consumers. A branched Likert scale that first asks respondents to rate attributes as important/unimportant and then further differentiates those responses yielded results more consistent with direct ranking questions than a traditional 5-point Likert scale. For Hispanics, the traditional scale showed a different ordering of attributes than rankings, but the branched scale maintained the same relationships. For non-Hispanics, both scales were generally consistent with rankings, but the branched scale eliminated potential distortions.

1. Hispanic Omnibus: Wave 6 2013
Using Scales in Hispanic Survey Research
Presented by:

2. Research Methodology
 ThinkNow Research conducts an Omnibus survey of Hispanic consumers several
times per year. The quantitative survey is made available in both English and
Spanish with respondents recruited from a research panel.
 Survey Qualification Criteria:
 Age 18+
 Describe themselves as Hispanic or Latino.
 For this research exercise, the Hispanic Omnibus was augmented with a Control of nonHispanic U.S adult residents.
 To insure a consistent and representative sample of U.S. Hispanic adults in each
wave of the Omnibus, quotas are set with respect to:
 Gender
 Age
 Region
 Language normally spoken at home.
 The Omnibus survey completed in July 2013 is a sample of 775 Hispanic
consumers, including 300 who speak Spanish primarily, 300 who are bilingual and
175 who speak English primarily.
 Survey margin of error: +/- 3.5% at the 95% confidence interval.
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3. Research Design
To better understand how questionnaire design
influences ratings of importance, consumers were
asked a short series of questions about what is
important to them when shopping in a retail store.
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4. Research Design
 First, the sample was divided randomly into two groups.

Group A was asked to rate five factors on a traditional five point Likert
scale ranging from “not at all important” to “very important.”

Group B was asked to rate the same factors using a two-step approach.
First, respondents rated each item as either “important,” “unimportant”
or “neither important nor unimportant.” Second, respondents were
asked to differentiate “important” into “very important” or “somewhat
important” and “unimportant” into “somewhat unimportant” and “not
at all important.”

Group A and Group B responses are then compared.
 Lastly, respondents were asked to rank the same five factors using a
short series of simple questions asking them to pick the “most
important” or “least important” factor from a list, yielding a rank
assignment for each factor.
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5. Executive Summary
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6. Key Research Findings
 The two-step branched Likert scale yields results closer to what is
achieved through a ranking exercise.
 Using the traditional Likert scale, one would conclude that low prices
are the least important factor among the five rated among Hispanic
consumers. However, the two-step rating sequence and the forced
rank sequence of questions would lead to the conclusion that quality
merchandise is the most important factor followed closely by low
prices.
 For non-Hispanic consumers the two-step rating sequence also yields
results more consistent with a ranking question, although the risk of
reaching a substantially different conclusion is not as severe as
appears to be the case among Hispanic consumers.
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7. Survey Results: Rated Importance by
Question Design
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8. Ranked Importance: Non-Hispanic
 Quality Items and Low Prices ranked as the Top 2 most important factors for Non-Hispanic
retail shoppers.
Non-Hispanic Ranked Preference
Quality items
29%
Low prices
64%
37%
Wide selection
13%
Customer Service
10%
Store cleanliness
9%
Most Important
60%
31%
23%
22%
2nd
3rd
4th
Least important
Top 2 Box
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9. Scale Comparisons: Non-Hispanics
Ranked Preference
Quality items
#2
29%
Low prices
64%
37%
Wide selection
Customer Service
#5
13%
10%
23%
Store cleanliness
9%
60%
22%
Most Important
31%
2nd
Top 2 Box
Branched Likert Scale
Quality items
#2
79%
Low prices
71%
Wide selection
89%
66%
Customer Service
#5
89%
86%
68%
Store cleanliness
58%
Branching Likert Scales
yields results that
maintain the same
relationships among
measured attributes as
rankers
85%
80%
Likert Scale
Quality items
63%
Wide selection
#3
53%
Low prices
85%
56%
Store cleanliness
Very (5)
87%
60%
Customer Service
#5
88%
85%
53%
Somewhat (4)
83%
Straight Likert scales
can produce distorted
relationships among
attributes
Top 2 Box
Q: When shopping at a physical store, how important to you are each of the following factors? / Q: Please tell us which of the following factors you
consider to be most important to you personally. Base: n=404 non-Hispanics
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10. Ranked Importance: Hispanic
 Hispanics also ranked Quality, Price and Selection as their Top 3 retail factors.
 Store Cleanliness rises from the 5th position to nearly tying for 3rd.
Hispanic Ranked Preference
Quality items
28%
Low prices
27%
Wide selection
Most Important
48%
18%
Store cleanliness
Customer Service
55%
37%
16%
11%
2nd most important
36%
25%
3rd most important
4th most important
Least important
Q: Please tell us which of the following factors you consider to be most important to you personally. Q: Of the remaining factors, which is least
important / more important than the others / less important? Base: All Hispanic respondents (n=775).
Top 2 Box
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11. Scale Comparisons: Hispanics
Ranked Preference
Quality items
#2
28%
Low prices
55%
27%
48%
Wide selection
37%
Store cleanliness
16%
36%
Customer Service
#4
18%
11%
Most Important
25%
2nd
Top 2 Box
Branched Likert Scale
Quality items
#2
75%
Low prices
68%
Wide selection
#4
63%
Store cleanliness
65%
Customer Service
62%
85%
82%
Hispanics rate attributes
differently, however,
branching Likert Scales yields
results that maintain the
same relationships among
measured attributes as
rankers
81%
78%
75%
Likert Scale
Quality items
Wide selection
#4
64%
51%
Store cleanliness
Low prices
Very (5)
83%
62%
Customer Service
#5
84%
82%
57%
48%
Somewhat (4)
82%
Straight Likert scales
can produce distorted
relationships among
attributes
75%
Top 2 Box
Q: When shopping at a physical store, how important to you are each of the following factors? / Q: Please tell us which of the following factors you
consider to be most important to you personally. Base: n=775 Hispanics
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12. Appendix: Sample Profile
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13. Sample Profile
Male
Female
Hispanics
n=775
50%
50%
48%
52%
18 to 24
25 to 34
35 to 44
45 to 54
55 to 64
65 or older
Mean age
Median age
Language Spoken at Home:
Spanish only
Spanish mostly
Spanish and English equally
English mostly
English only
Survey completed in
Spanish:
37%
35%
15%
7%
5%
2%
31
29
30%
24%
16%
14%
11%
4%
36
33
8%
30%
39%
12%
10%
100%
19%
Region:
New England
2%
4%
11%
13%
East North Central
Age:
Hispanics
n=775
NonHispanic
n=404
Middle Atlantic
Metric
NonHispanic
n=404
8%
15%
West North Central
South Atlantic
East South Central
West South Central
Mountain
Pacific
2%
16%
2%
19%
10%
30%
7%
20%
6%
11%
7%
17%
Hispanic Origin:
Mexican American
Mexican
Puerto Rican
Cuban
South American
Central American
Dominican
36%
32%
15%
9%
8%
7%
5%
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Metric
N/A
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14. Sample Profile
Metric
Hispanics
n=775
NonHispanic
n=404
Marital Status:
NonHispanic
n=404
None
Grade school
Some high school
High school graduate
Some College, but no degree
Trade or technical school
Graduated 2-year College
Graduated 4-5 year College
Post Graduate Degree
1%
2%
5%
22%
22%
4%
12%
25%
8%
0%
0%
8%
25%
26%
6%
11%
18%
7%
Employment Status:
Employed (net)
Work full-time
Work part-time
Self-employed/owner
Full-time Homemaker
Retired
Student, not employed
Currently unemployed
Unable to work/Disabled
69%
47%
17%
5%
6%
3%
11%
8%
2%
56%
37%
12%
7%
8%
8%
9%
10%
8%
Metric
Educational Attainment:
Married
Single
Living with partner
Separated/divorced
Widowed
Prefer not to answer
44%
40%
7%
6%
2%
2%
35%
43%
9%
11%
1%
1%
Average household size
3.5
2.9
No children <18 present
Any children < 18 present
40%
60%
63%
37%
Born in the U.S.
Moved here
Average years in the U.S.
Hispanics
n=775
72%
28%
24
95%
5%
35
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15. Sample Profile
Metric
NonHispanics Hispanic
n=775
n=404 Metric
Cultural Identification:
Hispanics
n=775
NonHispanic
n=404
Household Income:
Much closer to Hispanic/Latino
29%
1%
Less than $10,000
7%
7%
Somewhat closer to Hispanic/Latino
20%
0%
$10,000 to less than $20,000
10%
7%
Equally close to both cultures
34%
6%
$20,000 to less than $30,000
13%
15%
Somewhat closer to U.S. Culture
8%
10%
$30,000 to less than $40,000
12%
11%
Much closer to U.S. Culture
9%
82%
$40,000 to less than $50,000
11%
10%
$50,000 to less than $60,000
10%
14%
$60,000 to less than $70,000
5%
8%
Overall Media Language Preference:
Spanish only
5%
0%
$70,000 to less than $80,000
6%
5%
Spanish mostly
17%
0%
$80,000 to less than $100,000
8%
6%
Spanish and English equally
41%
2%
$100,000 or more
13%
8%
English mostly
21%
8%
Prefer not to state
6%
8%
English only
17%
89%
Mean
$64k
$57k
Median
$44k
$46K
Acculturation:
Low Acculturation
15%
N/A
Medium Acculturation
70%
N/A
High Acculturation
15%
N/A
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16. CONTACT
INFO:
2100 W. Magnolia Blvd.
Suite A-B
Burbank, CA 91506
Main Phone: 877-200-2710
Mario X. Carrasco, M.A.
818-843-0220 x101
mario@thinknowresearch.com
Roy Eduardo Kokoyachuk, MBA
818-843-0220 x102
roy@thinknowresearch.com

17. Scale Comparisons
Hispanics
Non-Hispanics
Likert Scale
Likert Scale
Quality items
64%
Wide selection
Customer Service
Low prices
4
48%
3
2
Low prices
82%
57%
Wide selection
82%
62%
Quality items
83%
51%
Store cleanliness
Very (5)
84%
Customer Service
75%
Not at all (1)
Important/Top 2 Box
Branch Sequence
63%
53%
4
87%
60%
85%
56%
Store cleanliness
Very (5)
88%
85%
53%
3
2
83%
Not at all (1)
Important/Top 2 Box
Branch Sequence
Quality items
75%
Low prices
68%
Wide selection
63%
Store cleanliness
65%
Customer Service
62%
85%
Quality items
82%
Low prices
81%
79%
Wide selection
78%
75%
Ranked Preference
71%
66%
Customer Service
89%
86%
68%
Store cleanliness
89%
85%
58%
80%
Ranked Preference
Quality items
28%
Low prices
27%
55%
Quality items
48%
29%
Low prices
64%
37%
Wide selection
18%
37%
Wide selection
13%
Store cleanliness
16%
36%
Customer Service
10%
23%
Customer Service
11%
Store cleanliness
9%
60%
22%
Most Important
2nd
25%
3rd
4th
Least important
Top 2 Box
Most Important
2nd
3rd
31%
4th
Least important
Q: When shopping at a physical store, how important to you are each of the following factors? / Q: Please tell us which of the following factors you
consider to be most important to you personally. Base: All respondents (n=775 Hispanics, n=404 non-Hispanics).
Top 2 Box
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