A three-item, seven-point bi-polar scale measuring how appropriate a respondent considers a specific unit of time to be when expressing a warranty for a given product category. Each item contains two blanks: the first for the product category (e.g., cell phones) and the second for the time unit being evaluated (e.g., years, months). Developed as a manipulation check in Study 4 of a multi-study investigation demonstrating that consumers have preset or default units for expressing product attributes, and that expressing attributes in these default units produces more favourable product evaluations. The scale confirmed that participants perceived the tested warranty time unit as appropriate or inappropriate as intended, supporting the validity of the unit manipulation.
7-point bi-polar scale; anchors vary by item (see items_full); product category and time unit inserted in blanks
Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.
The scale was used as a manipulation check to verify that different warranty time expressions (e.g., expressed in years vs. months) were perceived as differentially appropriate by participants. Formal validity assessment was not reported beyond this functional use; the strong alpha (.95) and successful manipulation support its psychometric adequacy. Each item uses a unique set of verbal anchors: (1) totally not right / very right; (2) totally not suitable / very suitable; (3) totally not appropriate / very appropriate. The language in which the scale was administered was not reported in the source article. The scale is particularly useful in research on numerical unit framing, attribute presentation formats, and consumer responses to product specifications. Related scales in this database include Desire for Precise Product Information (ID 969), which is from the same research group and addresses consumers' preference for numerical precision more broadly.
Lembregts, C., & Pandelaere, M. (2013). Are all units created equal? The effect of default units on product evaluations. Journal of Consumer Research, 39(6), 1275-1289.
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