Middle Option Research Articles

Effect of branching middle responses in dichotomous scales on web surveys

Previous research shows that in telephone surveys, 11–49% of respondents select a middle alternative when it is offered on dichotomous bipolar questions, although they do not volunteer a middle option when it is not mentioned. Furthermore, offering a middle option leads to different systematic response effects, including social desirability bias and satisficing effects, which are related to respondent characteristics. Research has shown that in telephone surveys, a question form with a branching middle response has a lower response validity compared to that of a non-branching middle response. However, compared to the non-branching form, the branching form could potentially motivate respondents to spend more time and effort in their responses in the absence of an interviewer. Therefore, validity and reliability differences between branching-question form responses and non-branching-question form responses in general population web surveys have become an area of interest for research. Using a randomized experiment, this study tests the impact of a branching middle alternative in a general population survey on the validity and reliability of responses. The branching middle alternative did not change the validity and reliability of responses, and compared to the alternative, it reduced satisficing behavior based on the proxies.

Updates in Endoscopic Bariatric and Metabolic Therapies.

The rising prevalence of obesity, and related morbidity and mortality, has necessitated the development of therapeutic weight loss strategies. Lifestyle modifications alone have only yielded modest benefit, and while bariatric surgery has shown significant short- and long-term results, only a minority of eligible patients end up receiving this treatment. Endoscopic bariatric and metabolic therapies (EBMTs) are a rapidly evolving field, which provides a less invasive middle ground treatment option for weight loss. Here we discuss the efficacy, as well as short- and long-term outcomes with restrictive, malabsorptive/metabolic and aspiration endoscopic techniques, and their effects on metabolic parameters.

Coexistence of thought types as an attentional state during a sustained attention task

Some studies have asked participants about attentional state on a scale from on-task to off-task, which set the middle option as attention focused on both, including the possibility of the coexistence of thoughts. In addition, studies using multidimensional probes explicitly assumed coexistence within spontaneous thoughts and task-focus dimensions. Although several studies have assumed the coexistence of some thought dimensions, none has explored whether these are different types of thoughts (task-focus, mind-wandering, task-related, external stimuli-related). To examine whether this coexistence of thought types occurred, we used thought probes to determine the degree of immersion in each. The participants responded to probes presented at random during a sustained attention task. The results revealed a mixture of thought types in many self-reports. In addition, the state of attentional allocation behind self-reports was estimated using the hidden Markov model. We observed the following attentional states: task-focused, task-unrelated, task-related, external stimuli-focused, and task-focused—but also focused on other thoughts. These results suggest that individuals can simultaneously allocate attention to thought types and discriminate between reporting. In some cases, probe options should also be considered for this coexistence. We also examined the relationship between self-reports and behavioral indexes, and discussed the necessity of separately measuring the degree of immersion for each thought type.

Principals’ perceptions of gifted students and their education

This study aimed to identify principals' perceptions of gifted students and their education in the context of Sweden. Gagné and Nadeau's attitude scale “Opinions about the gifted and their education” (OGE; with permission from Gagné) was used. The attitude scale consisted of 34 statements about gifted students and their education for principals to evaluate using a 5-point Likert-scale. The results showed that the 71 participating principals mostly felt positive about gifted students and their education, but the answers gave a picture of uncertainty and lack of knowledge, as many respondents used the middle option, “neutral,” on the Likert scale. While the results are not generalizable, the findings provide insights into respondents' perceptions and demonstrate the importance of bringing research about gifted students and their education into the front line.

SSB Mahardika's Offensive Tactics

This study aims to produce a product development model for football attack tactics training at an early age and to increase the effectiveness of the ability to attack football tactics during competitions. This research is research and development carried out by adapting development research steps. This method begins with a needs analysis by developing an attack tactics training model with characteristics that match the results of the effectiveness test conducted at SSB Mahardika. Data were analyzed by descriptive quantitative on the rating scale. The number-based soccer attack tactic training model is used as a tool so that the players can increase their effectiveness against attacking abilities. Based on the results of the analysis in small group trials, it was found that the average choice was 76.67%; this stated that the attack tactics training model had a good category. In the large group trial, the middle option was 86.49%, which noted that the soccer attack tactics training model had a particular type. The soccer attack tactics training model based on the number of players is effective for increasing the ability of football tactics with a significance value of <0.05.

What drives preference for the compromise option? Disentangling position‐based versus attribute‐based effects

AbstractThe compromise effect exists where consumers show a disproportional preference for the option with intermediate attribute levels in a choice set. The effect has been widely observed in the literature. Other research has demonstrated the benefits of a product physically occupying a middle position, regardless of relative attribute levels. Both streams of research thus show that consumers' preferences are influenced by the display format of the choice set, with benefits accruing to the middle option. This research demonstrates that the compromise effect comprises both an attribute‐based and a position‐based component by disentangling these two effects. We demonstrate the coexistence of both components in a series of five experiments, including a field experiment, that systematically vary an option's position based on relative attribute levels and in terms of position. Existing literature on the compromise effect only to a limited extent accounts for this possibility, even though it has significant theoretical and practical relevance. While brands largely determine attribute levels, marketers/retailers can often determine a brand's display position. We also establish the moderating role of time pressure and find that the position component becomes more prominent when time is constrained while the attribute effect becomes more prominent when time is unconstrained.

Accounting for Response Styles: Leveraging the Benefits of Combining Response Process Data Collection and Response Process Analysis Methods

ABSTRACT Response styles introduce construct-irrelevant variance as a result of respondents systematically responding to Likert-type items regardless of content. Methods to account for response styles through data analysis as well as approaches to mitigating the effects of response styles during data collection have been well-documented. Recent approaches to modeling Likert responses, such as the IRTree model, rely on the response process individuals take when answering item responses. In this study, we advocate for the use of IRTrees to analyze Likert items in addition to using the hypothesized response process to design new items. Combining these two approaches facilitates answering Likert item design questions that have plagued researchers. These include the interpretation of a middle response option, the optimal number of response options, and how to label the response options. We present 7 research questions that could be answered using this new approach, outline methods of data collection and analysis for each, and present results from an empirical example to address one of these seven questions.

Relative vices and absolute virtues: How size labeling affects size preferences for vices and virtues

In the present work, we draw upon construal level theory and appraisal theory to propose a link between two vital elements of consumption that can influence product size preferences: the vice or virtue nature of products and types of size labeling. Three experiments demonstrate that by labeling a vice product with relative size labels (i.e., small/medium/large) and a virtue product with absolute size labels (i.e., ounces), consumer size preferences can be increased. These alignments lead consumers to experience more positive affect generated by imagining the good they are doing for their bodies (with absolute labeling of virtues) or focusing on the positive feelings of indulgence (with relative labeling of vices), leading to larger preferred sizes. Further, these effects are suppressed by increasing the ambiguity of size labeling, with ambiguous size labels leading to size preferences that appear to be based on a compromise effect (i.e., picking the middle size option).

A mixture model for ordinal variables measured on semantic differential scales

Subjective perceptions and attitudes are usually measured by administering questionnaires with ordered response scales. Among them, a particular case are semantic differential scales, where the respondent has to declare his/her position between two bipolar adjectives. To model ordinal variables measured on semantic differential scales, a novel model is introduced as an extension in the framework of the CUB (Combination of discrete Uniform and shifted Binomial random variables) class of models. The proposed model addresses the analysis of ordinal variables measured on semantic differential scales. However, it is definitely well suited to all the rating scales that have a middle option that means indifference between two extremes. This is a circumstance that occurs in the main part of the most commonly used Likert scales. The proposal is based on a mixture of a discrete Uniform and a - linearly transformed - Multinomial random variable, so it is called CUM. Parameter estimation is carried out using the expectation-maximization algorithm, and the parameters can be represented in a triangular space with a ternary plot. A simulation study is carried out and, finally, applications on real data are examined in order to show limits and potentialities of the proposal.

The influence of the compromise and travel temporal construal heuristics on a purchase decision

This study empirically investigated the effects of temporal construal upon the compromise effect; the extent to which the importance of price and quality attributes to selecting a compromised option changed over time; and the malleability of the influence of the temporal construal heuristic by changing the time parameters. Three hundred and ninety-four questionnaires were used for further data analysis. The study's results suggested that the compromise effect was present in the tourism context, but with weakened effectiveness when the time frame in which the purchase can be used was moved back. The importance of price and quality was different between those groups who selected each of three options. The importance of price level in selecting a middle option was not different in terms of temporal construal, but the quality level was a more important consideration in selecting a middle option for future use than for use today.

When Too Few Is Bad for the Environment

Abstract. Defaults are an effective tool in shaping consumers’ decisions. However, only a few studies have investigated the role of defaults regarding consumers’ choices of electricity products. Moreover, each of these studies used binary choice sets (gray vs. green electricity). Notably, decision-making research has shown that consumer choice patterns are considerably influenced by the size of the choice set (e.g., adding a third option). The question is, does this also hold for defaults, that is, do they function differently depending on the choice set size? In our experimental study, participants could choose between three electricity products (gray, green, and eco), which varied in their environmental friendliness and price, the default randomly being one of the three products. In addition, we had a no-default condition. Contrary to the other studies, we found not only a default effect for the least environmentally friendly gray product, but also for the environmentally friendlier products green and eco electricity. Moreover, the popularity of the middle option – the green electricity product – was not reduced by adding a third product. The results indicate that increasing the set size by adding an eco-product and by intelligently setting the default could increase the number of consumers buying environmentally friendly electricity products.

Middle alternatives and measurement validity: a recommendation for survey researchers

ABSTRACTQuestionnaires routinely measure unipolar and bipolar constructs using rating scales. Such rating scales can offer odd numbers of points, meaning that they have explicit middle alternatives, or they can offer even numbers of points, omitting the middle alternative. By examining four types of questions in six national or regional telephone surveys, this paper found that omitting the middle alternative and forcing respondents to pick a side compromised data quality, for questions presenting two conditions with middle option ‘about equally,’ and for quasi-bipolar questions with middle option ‘fair.’ In addition, omitting the middle alternative never helped improve data quality for a variety of unipolar questions. Lastly, there is a marginally significant improvement in terms of data quality for bipolar questions with middle option ‘neither good nor bad’ when offering a follow-up asking whether they lean one way or the other or whether they are genuinely in the middle.

Different definitions of the nonrecollection-based response option(s) change how people use the \u201cremember\u201d response in the remember/know paradigm

In the remember/know paradigm, a “know” response can be defined to participants as a high-confidence state of certainty or as a low-confidence state based on a feeling of familiarity. To examine the effects of definition on use of responses, in two experiments, definitions of “remember” and “guess” were kept constant, but definitions of “know” and/or “familiar” were systematically varied to emphasize (a) a subjective experience of high confidence without recollection, (b) a feeling of familiarity, (c) both of these subjective experiences combined within one response option, or (d) both of these experiences as separate response options. The confidence expressed in “know” and/or “familiar” definitions affected how participants used response options. Importantly, this included use of the “remember” response, which tended to be used more frequently when the nonrecollection-based middle response option emphasized a feeling of familiarity rather than an experience of “just knowing.” The influence of the definitions on response patterns was greater for items that had undergone deep rather than shallow processing, and was greater when deep-encoded and shallow-encoded items were mixed, rather than blocked, at test. Our findings fit with previous research suggesting that the mnemonic traces underlying subjective judgments are continuous and that the remember/know paradigm is not a pure measure of underlying processes. Findings also emphasize the importance of researchers publishing the exact definitions they have used to enable accurate comparisons across studies.

质量还是价格?折衷产品缺货情境下的消费者选择

质量还是价格?折衷产品缺货情境下的消费者选择

Rules of (household) engagement: technology as manager, assistant and intern

PurposePractitioners need to understand how households will engage with connected-home technologies or risk the failure of these innovations. Current theory does not offer sufficient explanation for how households will engage; hence, this paper aims to address an important gap by examining how households set “rules of engagement” for connected-home technologies in the context of electricity use and monitoring.Design/methodology/approachA review of the extant psychology, technology and engagement literature is conducted and yields two research questions for exploration. The research questions are addressed via 43 in-depth household interviews. Analysis includes thematic analysis and computerized text analysis.FindingsThe results include a typology of technology engagement (the “PIP typology”) and discuss three main roles for technology in assisting households: intern, assistant and manager. Key contributions are as follows: consumers in household settings may experience “compromised engagement” where the perceived middle option is selected even if no-one selected that option originally; households open to using connected-home technologies are often taking advantage of their ability to “delegate” engagement to technology, and because consumers humanize technology, they also expect technology to follow social roles and boundaries.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research may examine the PIP typology quantitatively and/or in different contexts and would benefit from a longitudinal study to examine how household technology engagement evolves. Four research propositions are provided, which may form the basis for future research.Practical implicationsRecommendations for practitioners are presented regarding the benefits of keeping consumers at the heart of connected-home technology goods and services. Specific design principles are provided.Originality/valueThis paper fulfills the need to understand how households will engage with connected-home technologies and the roles this technology may fulfill in the complex household service system.

The Understanding of Scalar Implicatures in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Dichotomized Responses to Violations of Informativeness.

This study investigated the understanding of underinformative sentences like “Some elephants have trunks” by children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The scalar term ‘some’ can be interpreted pragmatically, ‘Not all elephants have trunks,’ or logically, ‘Some and possibly all elephants have trunks.’ Literature indicates that adults with ASD show no real difficulty in interpreting scalar implicatures, i.e., they often interpret them pragmatically, as controls do. This contrasts with the traditional claim of difficulties of people with ASD in other pragmatic domains, and is more in line with the idea that pragmatic problems are not universal. The aim of this study was to: (a) gain insight in the ability of children with ASD to derive scalar implicatures, and (b) do this by assessing not only sensitivity to underinformativeness, but also different degrees of tolerance to violations of informativeness. We employed a classic statement-evaluation task, presenting optimal, logical false, and underinformative utterances. In Experiment 1, children had to express their judgment on a binary option ‘I agree’ vs. ‘I disagree.’ In Experiment 2, a ternary middle answer option ‘I agree a bit’ was also available. Sixty-six Flemish-speaking 10-year-old children were tested: 22 children with ASD, an IQ-matched group, and an age-matched group. In the binary judgment task, the ASD group gave more pragmatic answers than the other groups, which was significant in the mixed effects logistic regression analysis, although not in the non-parametric analysis. In the ternary judgment task, the children with ASD showed a dichotomized attitude toward the speaker’s meaning, by tending to either fully agree or fully disagree with underinformative statements, in contrast with TD children, who preferred the middle option. Remarkably, the IQ-matched group exhibited the same pattern of results as the ASD group. Thanks to a fine-grained measure such as the ternary judgment task, this study highlighted a neglected aspect of the pragmatic profile of ASD, whose struggle with social communication seems to affect also the domain of informativeness. We discuss the implications of the dichotomized reaction toward violations of informativeness in terms of the potential role of ASD and of cognitive and verbal abilities.

The (Un)Compromise Effect

The compromise effect—i.e., the preference for the middle option—is an established bias in behavioral economics, but has not been experimentally validated in the field. In the current study I test the compromise effect in a natural context, and whether this bias can be used to stimulate active choice—the (un)compromise effect. In a mail fund raiser for a large US hospital, I evaluate their baseline ask string [$10, $50, $100, $ ] to an extended version [$10, $50, $100, $250, $500, $ ]. In line with the compromise effect, the extended ask string increases the average amount given and the share of donors giving $100, which is now the middle option. Importantly, however, and in line with a model of contextual inference, revealing the middle option is not necessary for the effect to arise. The (un)compromise ask string [$10, $500, $ ] generates the same average amount given and same share giving $100, as the extended ask string—the only difference being that 90 percent of donors, instead of 30 percent, use the open-ask alternative. Hence, by only providing informative end points of a distribution, organizations can benefit from the compromise effect and at the same time promote individuality by stimulating active choice. I discuss theoretical and practical implications of the results.

The impact of country of origin on context effects in choice

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of country of origin (COO) information as an important/salient categorical attribute on choice context effects. Specifically, this research examines whether the introduction of a unique COO in the choice set will have a differential influence on context effects depending on the relative position of the third option (the asymmetrically dominated option vs the extreme option).Design/methodology/approachFive experiments were conducted in this research. Study 1 had a 2 (set size: two-option core set vs three-option asymmetric dominance set)×2 (competitor’s COO: common vs unique) between-subjects design. Study 2 had a 2 (set size: two-option core set vs three-option extreme option set)×2 (competitor’s COO: common vs unique) between-subjects design. To address the robustness of the effects, Studies 3-5 replicated the results of Studies 1 and 2. The data were analyzed by χ2 tests and logistic regression analyses.FindingsThe current research demonstrates that the attraction effect is attenuated by the introduction of a unique COO information in the competing option, whereas the tendency to prefer a middle option is not significantly affected.Originality/valueThe present research adds to the current understanding and the practical relevance of COO effects and context effects in marketing by examining the impact of COO as an important/salient categorical attribute on context effects.

Compromise effect and consideration set size in consumer decision-making

ABSTRACTThe compromise effect dictates that a decision-maker chooses a middle option over an extreme one given a set of choice alternatives since choosing an intermediate option is easier to justify, less likely to be criticized, and is consistent with loss aversion. Our experiment is designed to identify whether the connection between the extremeness of the options and the size of the consideration sets is economically and statistically significant and thus would have important behavioural implications. Specifically, we compare decision-making under small and large consideration sets where the extremeness of the comprising choice options is high, as opposed to low. The results demonstrate that an increase in consideration set size leads to weaker compromise effect (i.e. boundary condition) but when composed of high extremeness, strengthens the compromise effect.

The Influence of Task Difficulty on Context Effect - Compromise and Attraction Effects

Research in psychology finds strong context effects in consumer behavior and help consumer make up their mind from choice set when none of each option better than the others in all aspects. Context effect signifies that when evaluating a focal option, individuals take into consideration characteristics of other comparative alternatives rather than only the features of that focal alternative, complicating the decision-making process. The compromise effect and attraction effect (known together as context effect) explain the underlying motivations that cause consumers to choose the middle option and introduce an inferior option to make the originally dominated option more preferable. But past research on this domain has predominantly used an easy-to-count choice scenario (refers to the ease of using individual’s math skill on comparative attributes in the choice task) which is not ideally existed in real world situation. In real world purchasing situations, most of the time consumers become confused by a variety of products presented with irregular pricing, packaging or attributes which are apparently difficult to compare by math skill. This paper aim to examine “When the level of difficulty changed while processing the comparative task on the context of a choice set, how does this influence the resultant occurrence of context effect?” Results from four experiments demonstrate that both compromise and attraction effects decreased when the choice task become more difficult.