An Analysis of Importance Ratings
Abstract:
Importance ratings, in one form or another, have become a rather ubiquitous commodity in marketing research, found in a variety of studies. Yet, this approach to assessing the weight or value given to various product characteristics and benefits during the purchase decision making process has often been criticized. Many view the resulting measurements as lacking discrimination, both between benefits evaluated and among respondents (e.g., "too many people said too many items are extremely important"). Further, the resulting ratings are often perceived as not reflecting the true nature of product benefits or motivations, hence the need for "derived importance" to get at what consumers truly think and feel.
