Generalizing the Sensitivity Conditions in an Overall Index of Product Quality

Praveen K Kopalle and Donna L Hoffman

Journal of Consumer Research, 1992, vol. 18, issue 4, 530-35

Abstract: The issue of the sensitivity of weighted linear composites to attribute-importance weights has attracted researchers from various disciplines, including marketing, psychology, and statistics. At issue is how sensitive a weighted scale is to a particular choice of weights. Scale sensitivity is defined by a negative correlation between two scales. By considering the general case of "n" attributes and using an algebraic approach, the authors specify the precise sufficiency conditions under which two scales correlate negatively and thus be sensitive to the weights chosen. These sensitive conditions are derived in the context of the computation of an overall product-quality scale, which is simply a special case of the general multiattribute problem. They illustrate these conditions for the case of two quality scales using examples from "Test" (1983), a German magazine similar to "Consumer Reports," and from "Places Rated Almanac" (1987). Copyright 1992 by the University of Chicago.

Date: 1992
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:jconrs:v:18:y:1992:i:4:p:530-35

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