Editing Preference-rank translation

{{Short description|Market research technique}}
{{Unreferenced|date=December 2009}}
'''Preference-rank translation'''  is a mathematical technique used by [[marketing|marketers]] to convert stated preferences into purchase probabilities, that is, into an estimate of actual buying behaviour.  It takes [[statistical survey|survey data]] on consumers’ preferences and converts it into actual purchase probabilities.

A survey might ask a [[questionnaire construction|question]] using a ranking [[scale (social sciences)|scale]] such as :
{| class="toccolours"
|Please rate the following products from 1 (most preferred) to 5 (least preferred).
:___ product A
:___ product B
:___ product C
:___ product D
:___ product E
|}
A marketing researcher will re-specify the numerical values during codification. 1 will become 5, 2 will become 4,  4 will become 2, 5 will become 1, and 3 will remain the same. In this way greater values will correspond with greater preference. 

Next, the researcher uses a data reduction technique like [[factor analysis]] to obtain aggregate  scores. To convert these aggregate rankings into purchase probabilities, each category (in this case, each product) will be weighted with a translation coefficient. These weights are predefined. 

A typical weighting scheme is:
{| class="toccolours"
|first choice ||= 75%
|-
|second choice ||= 17%
|-
|third choice ||= 6%
|-
|fourth choice ||= 2%
|-
|fifth choice ||= 0%
|}
The weighting schemes vary depending on the variables being measured.

The following chart illustrates the procedure:
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
!
! score
! rank
! weight
! probability
|-
! product A
| 6.4
| 2nd
| .17
| 1.1
|-
! product B
| 5.1
| 4th
| .02
| .1
|-
! product C
| 8.7
| 1st
| .75
| 6.5
|-
! product D
| 4.3
| 5th
| 0
| 0
|-
! product E
| 5.5
| 3rd
| .06
| .3
|}

Other purchase intention/rating translations include [[logit analysis (in marketing)|logit analysis]] and the [[intent scale translation]].

==See also==
*[[marketing research]]
*[[New Product Development]]
*[[marketing]]
*[[preference regression]]
*[[quantitative marketing research]]
*[[Personal finance]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Preference-Rank Translation}}

[[Category:Choice modelling]]
[[Category:Consumer behaviour]]
[[Category:Market research]]
[[Category:Product management]]
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