Alternating Least Squares Optimal Scaling: Analysis of Nonmetric Data in Marketing Research

The authors discuss and illustrate the advantages and limitations of a family of new approaches to the analysis of metric and nonmetric data in marketing research. The general method, which is based on alternating least squares optimal scaling procedures, extends the analytical flexibility of the general linear model procedures (ANOVA, regression, canonical correlation, discriminant analysis, etc.) to situations in which the data (1) are measured at any mixture of the nominal, ordinal, or interval levels and (2) are derived from either a discrete or continuous distribution. The relationship of these procedures to traditional linear models and to other nonmetric approaches (such as multidimensional scaling and conjoint analysis) is reviewed.