Likert Scale: What, Why, and How

John, a regular customer of Walmart, went to buy some groceries. As usual, it was crowded, and he found most of the things he was looking for over there. However, he was unable to find the pack of Athletic Works crew socks. When he inquired about the socks from the support team, he found out that it’s out of stock.?

He was unhappy but continued shopping.?

Later during billing, he was asked to fill out a survey regarding his shopping experience where a 3-point scale survey was given.?

Now, in such a scenario John chose “Neutral”, however, his feelings about the unavailability of the socks weren’t expressed to Walmart’s staff.?

So, what should have been done to understand John’s experience?

Instead of a 3-point scale survey, a 7-point Likert scale with an open-ended question (based on the rating) should have been used as it would capture John’s experience in detail. For instance, here John can choose the option of “Dissatisfied”.?

And then you can ask an open-ended question to know the reason behind the score.?

This would help you identify John's exact emotions while he left the score and the reasons behind it.

So, what is a Likert Scale, how can it be used, when, and where?

Defining Likert Scale

Likert scale is a bipolar scale that gives multiple options to the respondent to choose from ranging from one extreme to another. It is best used to take feedback after a particular event such as after a webinar, customer onboarding experience, new purchase, and a new product/service launch.?

There are two types of Likert scale?

1. 5-point Likert scale

In this scale, five different options, where two are extremes, one neutral, and two intermediates options, are given to the respondents to choose from. This scale helps you to measure frequency, agreement, quality, importance, and likelihood.

Here’s an example of a 5-point Likert scale.

Understanding the pros and cons of 5-point Likert Scales

Pros of a 5-point Likert Scale

• It is easily understandable by the respondents.
• It is ideal to evaluate huge data results.
• It boosts the response rate as it gives five different options to the respondents.

Cons of a 5-point Likert Scale

• By giving only five options, customers’ opinions get restricted.?

You cannot understand the intensity of the customer’s emotions from 5 variants. So, opt for a 7-point Likert scale and add a follow-up question.

2. 7-point Likert scale

This is the most common Likert Scale used since 1932. It offers seven different options in which two are moderate, two extremes, two intermediate, and one neutral to the respondents to choose their best sentiments.

Here’s an example of a 7-point Likert scale.

This scale is best used for?

• Gauging the respondents’ sentiments
• Better accuracy for the results?
• Perfect for researchers and?
• Delivers more data points to run statistical information.

This scale cannot measure

• Quantitative difference in the data between 5 and 7-point scale
• Likely to suffer from partiality in response style.?

And not just that, there are multiple other types of survey scales that you can use.?

Other Types of Survey Scales

1. 2 point survey scale also known as the dichotomous/binary scale where only two options are given to the respondents i.e, either yes or no, agree or disagree, etc. to choose from.

2. A 3-point survey scale offers three options to the respondents where a neutral option is also given along with two extremes.?

3. In a 10-point survey scale, multiple options are given to the respondents to achieve clear results. It can be used at several levels like after onboarding, new product launch, etc to analyze the overall satisfaction of the respondents with the brand.?

4. An 11-point survey scale is used in NPS that helps to gauge the loyalty of the customers towards the brand. Respondents who choose 9 and 10 are known as Promoters, those who choose 7 and 8 are Passives, and the rest who choose between 0-6 are Detractors.??

→ If you want to know more about NPS in depth, head to the ultimate guide on NPS.??

Now the question is, why are we increasing the survey scale points?

Increasing the survey scale will help respondents to choose the response best fit their experience, and does not restrict them to limited options.

But why not opt for open-ended questions here?

The reason to offer more options and not ask open-ended questions is that when we quantify the customer responses, it is easier to analyze their feedback statistically enabling you to take swift action.

The best approach however is to ask a Likert Scale and add a non-mandatory open-ended question to it.

Now that we have covered most of the things about the Likert scale, let's understand a few things that should be remembered while creating a Likert scale.

Not sure about how to write Likert scale questions??

Follow these tips given below:?

• Ask STRAIGHTFORWARD questions. For instance, if you are asking about the performance of a specific product - name the product and ask your customers directly.?
• LABEL ALL OPTIONS that you are giving to the customers.
• Choose the UNIPOLAR SCALE as it gives you multiple options like satisfied, slightly satisfied, moderately satisfied, and so on.?
• Maintain the SEQUENCE as your answer range should be from negative to positive i.e. 1 should be on the left and 5/7 on the right, in a horizontal Likert scale. Similarly, in the vertical Likert scale, 1 should be at the top and 5/7 at the bottom.?
• Ensure CONSISTENCY by following the same sequence for all the questions and answers, from positive to negative or vice versa.?

Now that we know about the Likert scales and questions, let's talk about their benefits.

Benefits of the Likert scale

1. Likert scale INCREASES RESPONSE RATES by giving multiple options to the respondents.
2. It offers a simple yes or no option to the respondents. A degree of opinion or even a neutral response is easy to assess during analysis.?
3. A NEUTRAL OPINION is given when the respondents are not confident about their feelings.??
4. It SAVES TIME of respondents by giving different options to gauge their feelings and your time as well to analyze the results.

Let's take a look at the drawback of the Likert scale

There’s only one drawback and that is

→ If the Likert scale is used without any open-ended questions then it only offers quantitative feedback.??

That’s all about the Likert scale for now!?

Click here to create your first Likert Scale survey for FREE.

Also, if you need to know more about the Likert Scale - head to our comprehensive guide.

→ Everything you need to know about the Likert Scale