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Writer's pictureMegan Peitz

A Discrete Choice Take on the Holidays

Research shows that on Christmas day, holiday-themed programming spikes as households curl up in front of the television for a dose of holiday cheer. Timeless classics like “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “It’s a Wonderful Life” come to my mind. And thanks to @RottenTomatoes, we have access to a list of the 50 Best Christmas Movies of All Time.


Now the last thing you want to do on the holidays is argue with family. So how will maintain peace on earth and goodwill towards men? Why Maximum Difference Scaling of course!


MaxDiff comes in handy when you anticipate low discrimination in peoples' preferences. For example, if these truly are the 50 best Christmas movies of all time, then viewers will potentially rate all of the moves a 4 or a 5 on a standard 5-point scale. With that data, it's hard to draw conclusions around which ONE movie to watch. Ranking data poses a similar issue when the list exceeds about 10 items. So instead, we recommend using a discrete choice method. By forcing people to make trade-offs through a MaxDiff exercise, we can uncover what they truly value - or in this case, what they want to watch! Now everyone is happy!




Take the survey here! I even employed @SawtoothSoftware 's MaxDiff on-the-fly scores so that you can see what your top three movies are based on your survey responses.


Happy viewing and Happy Holidays from your friends at Numerious!

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