Three, nine-point Likert-type items are used to measure the degree to which a consumer believes that a particular brand is different from other brands. Zhou and Nakamoto (2007) referred to the scale as perceived differentiation.
The four, five-point Likert-type statements measure the degree to which a person believes the services provided by competing providers in an industry vary a lot in their quality. If reversed from the way the items are shown being scored (below), the scale could be considered a measure of parity.
Four seven-point Likert-type statements are used to measure the degree to which a customer believes there are acceptable alternative sources of a product. Although the scale was developed for use with a service provider it would appear to be amenable for use with sellers of physical goods as well. The measure was called attractiveness of alternatives by Jones, Mothersbaugh, and Beatty (2000).
