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Pretesting Questionnaires: Content Analyses of Respondents' Concurrent Verbal Protocols

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  • Ruth N. Bolton

    (GTE Laboratories Incorporated)

Abstract

Conventional questionnaire pretesting methods focus on directly identifying question defects, such as an ambiguous question. This paper proposes a new method that identities respondents' cognitive difficulties as they form answers to survey questions. It entails a content analysts of concurrent verbal protocols elicited during pretest interviews. The effectiveness of the methodology is illustrated with pretests of multiple versions of the same survey. The results are used to illustrate how this method yields diagnostic information about questionnaire problems and improvements. Then, the results are compared with the results of observational monitoring by managers. The findings indicate that a questionnaire pretesting methodology that quantifies respondents' cognitive difficulties is a useful enhancement for identifying and “improving” defective questions.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruth N. Bolton, 1993. "Pretesting Questionnaires: Content Analyses of Respondents' Concurrent Verbal Protocols," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(3), pages 280-303.
  • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormksc:v:12:y:1993:i:3:p:280-303
    DOI: 10.1287/mksc.12.3.280
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    3. McColl-Kennedy, Janet R. & Patterson, Paul G. & Smith, Amy K. & Brady, Michael K., 2009. "Customer Rage Episodes: Emotions, Expressions and Behaviors," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 85(2), pages 222-237.
    4. Baifeng Sun & Leon Yongdan Liu & Wilco Waihung Chan & Carol Xiaoyue Zhang & Xingqi Chen, 2021. "Signals of Hotel Effort on Enhancing IAQ and Booking Intention: Effect of Customer’s Body Mass Index Associated with Sustainable Marketing in Tourism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-20, January.
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    6. Audrezet, Alice & Parguel, Béatrice, 2018. "Using the Evaluative Space Grid to better capture manifest ambivalence in customer satisfaction surveys," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 285-295.
    7. Stephan M. Liozu, 2021. "The adoption of pricing from an organizational perspective and its impact on relative firm performance," Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(4), pages 390-402, August.
    8. Matthias Mahlendorf, 2015. "Allowance for failure: reducing dysfunctional behavior by innovating accountability practices," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 19(3), pages 655-686, August.
    9. Ronald Eastburn, 2018. "Realising Value from Absorptive Capacity," Journal of Information & Knowledge Management (JIKM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 17(01), pages 1-26, March.
    10. David G Hyatt & Nicholas Berente, 2017. "Substantive or Symbolic Environmental Strategies? Effects of External and Internal Normative Stakeholder Pressures," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 1212-1234, December.
    11. Christin Seifert & Matthias Damert & Edeltraud Guenther, 2020. "Environmental Management in German Hospitals—A Classification of Approaches," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-24, May.
    12. Gottschalk, Sabrina A. & Mafael, Alexander, 2017. "Cutting Through the Online Review Jungle — Investigating Selective eWOM Processing," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 89-104.
    13. Young Sally K. Kim, 2010. "Consumer Penalty Evaluation: Differences Between Cooperative And Rebellious Customers," International Journal of Management and Marketing Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 3(1), pages 19-36.

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