Scale length is always a hot debate in the world of professional market research. Even versus odd? 5, 7, 10, 11 points? And don’t even get me started on labeling!
Luckily, there is some great research on these topics. For example, there is existing research on the specific issue of 5 versus 7-points, going back to the 1990s. And some just-published research from the insights team at PNC Bank also tackles this issue: PNC conducted a split sample experiment of n=2,600.
Bottom-line: PNC found evidence in support of 7-point scales. This is consistent with past research, though there are some important caveats. And I don’t want to steal too much of their research’s thunder: for more details check out my latest YouTube video, and read the PNC research as published in Quirk’s Marketing Research Review.
The best advice: do an experiment to see what provides the best data for your topics, and from your populations, of interest.
I also crafted a short PDF to share past published research on the 5 versus 7 topic.
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