An initial empirical guide to translating between different answer formats

Surveys research remains the most popular source of market knowledge. Yet, there is not one established way of how to measure beliefs. Some market research companies offer their respondents five answer options, others seven. Some use middle points on the answer scales, others do not. Some verbalize all answer options, others only the endpoints. The wide variety of answer formats used both by market research companies and academic researchers makes it virtually impossible to compare results across studies. This study offers support by presenting empirical mappings for some of the most commonly used answer formats, thus making comparisons of results easier.