‘Pick any’ measures contaminate brand image studies

Brand image measures using the typical ‘pick any’ answer format have been shown to be unstable (Rungie et al . 2005) . In the present study, we find that these poor stability results are mainly caused by the pick-any measure itself because it allows consumers to evade reporting true associations . Using a forcedchoice binary measure, we find that stable brand attribute associations are in fact present with much higher incidence (70%), thus outperforming both the measures predominantly used in industry (pick-any, 41%) and academia (7-point scale measure, 59%) . Under simulated optimal conditions, the forced-choice binary measure leads to 90% stability of brand-attribute associations and is therefore recommended as the optimal answer format for brand image studies .