Ch. 5 Marketing Research

Hermeneutics

An approach to understanding phenomenology that relies on analysis of texts through which a person tells a story about him- or herself

Participant-observation

An ethnographic research approach where the researcher becomes immersed within the culture that he or she is studying and draws data from his or her observations

Probing

An interview technique that tries to draw deeper and more elaborate explanations from a respondent

Text mining

Modern predictive analytic software enables text data to be mined from various sources, e.g., social networking sites, recorded conversations from call centers, and e-mail contacts

Depth Interviews

One-on-one, probing interview between a trained researcher and a respondent *Type of Approach: -Ethnography, grounded theory, case studies Advantages: -Gain considerable insight from each individual -Good for understanding unusual behaviors Disadvantages: -Results not meant to generalize -Very expensive per each interview

Semi-Structured Interviews

Open-ended questions, often in writing, that ask for short essay-type answers form respondents *Type of Approach: -Grounded theory, ethnography Advantages: -Can address more specific issues -Results can be easily interpreted -Cost advantages over focus groups and depth interviews Disadvantages: -Lack of flexibility that is likely to produce truly creative or novel explanations

Discussion guide

(Preparing a Focus Group Outline) - Includes written introductory comments informing the group about the focus group purpose and rules - Outlines topics or questions to be addressed in the group session

Concept Testing

- A frequently performed type of exploratory research representing many similar research procedures all having the same purpose - To screen new, revised, or re-positioned ideas - Concept testing processes work best when they not only identify ideas with the most potential, but also lead to important refinements

Word Clouds

- A graphical depiction of the frequency with which words occur - Words occurring more frequently are shown in correspondingly large type face - Also called a tag cloud

Laddering

- A particular approach to probing that asks respondents to compare differences between brands at different levels - Produces distinctions at the attribute level, benefit level, and the value or motivation level

What is a phenomenological approach to research?

- A philosophical approach to studying human experiences based on the idea that human experience itself is inherently subjective and determined by the context in which people live - Seeks to describe, reflect upon, and interpret experiences - Relies on conversational interview tools - Respondents are asked to tell a story about some experience

Qualitative marketing research

- Addresses marketing objectives through techniques allowing the researcher to provide elaborate interpretations of market phenomena without depending on numerical measurement - Focuses on discovering true inner meanings and new insights

Projective Research Techniques

- An indirect means of questioning that enables respondents to project beliefs and feelings onto a third party, an inanimate object, or a task situation - Particularly useful in studying sensitive issues

Probing is useful for the following reasons:

- Clarification - Free-form thinking - Pause - Contrast - Meaning - Change

How are case studies used?

- Commonly applied to business - Primary advantage is the ability to study an entire organization in depth with meticulous attention to detail

The Focus Group Moderator

A person who leads a focus group interview and ensures that everyone gets a chance to speak and contribute to the discussion

Hermeneutic unit

A text passage from a respondent's story that is linked with a key theme from within the respondent's story or provided by the researcher

Quantitative marketing research

Addresses research objectives through empirical assessments that involve numerical measurement and statistical analysis

Online Versus Face-to-Face Focus Group Techniques

Advantages: - Fast - Inexpensive - Bring together many participants from wide-spread geographical areas - Respondent anonymity - Transcript automatically recorded Disadvantages: - Less control over who participates - Participants cannot touch or taste something - Facial expression and body language cannot be seen - Reduced ability of moderator to probe and ask questions

Idea Generation

Qualitative research can generate ideas for new products, advertising copy, promotional ideas, and product improvements in numerous ways

Checklist for a creative mindset

Quantity leads to quality Wilder is better Do not judge Question assumptions

Observation

Recorded notes describing observed events *Type of Approach: -Ethnography, grounded theory, case studies Advantages: -Can be unobtrusive -Can yield actual behavior patterns Disadvantages: -Can be very expensive with participant observer series

Word Association/ Sentence Completion

Records the first thoughts that come to a consumer in response to some stimulus *Type of Approach: -Grounded theory, case studies Advantages: -Economical -Can be done quickly Disadvantages: -Lack the flexibility that is likely to produce truly creative or novel explanations

Quantitative data

Represent phenomena by assigning numbers in an ordered and meaningful way

What is ethnography?

Represents ways of studying cultures through methods that involve becoming highly active within that culture

Researcher-dependent

Researcher must extract meaning from unstructured responses, e.g., text from a recorded interview or a collage representing the meaning of some experience

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)/Cartoon Tests

Researcher provides an ambiguous picture and respondent tells about the story *Type of Approach: -Phenomenology, grounded theory Advantages: -Projective, allows to get at sensitive issues -Flexible Disadvantages: -Highly dependent on the researcher's interpretation

Collages

Respondent assembles pictures that represent their thoughts/feelings *Type of Approach: -Phenomenology, grounded theory Advantages: -Flexibly enough to allow novel insights Disadvantages: -Highly dependent on the researcher's interpretations of the collage

Conversations

Unstructured dialogue recorded by a researcher *Type of Approach: -Phenomenology, grounded theory Advantages: -Gain unique insights form enthusiasts -Can cover sensitive topics -Less expensive than depth interviews of focus groups Disadvantages: -Easy to get off course -Interpretations are very researcher dependent

Qualitative research can

accomplish research objectives that quantitative research cannot and vice versa

Steps for an Effective Focus Group Discussion Guide

- Conduct welcome and introductions first - Begin the interview with a broad icebreaker that does not reveal too many specifics about the interview - Make questions increasingly more specific as the interview proceeds - If there is a very specific objective to be accomplished, that question should probably be saved for last - A debriefing statement should provide respondents with the actual focus group objectives and answering any questions they may have

Qualitative data

- Data that are not characterized by numbers but rather, are textual, visual, or oral - Focus on stories, visual portrayals, meaningful characterizations, interpretations, and other expressive descriptions

Qualities of a good moderator:

- Develops rapport with the group - Good listener - Tries not to interject his/her own opinions - Controls the discussion without being overbearing

Modern Technology and Qualitative Research

- Facilitating interviewing *Videoconferencing technologies *Interactive media and online focus groups *Focus blogs - Social networking - Software development

One of the most impactful trends in recent times

- For many, social networking sites have become the primary tool for communicating with friends both far and near and known and unknown - Well-known sites: Facebook, tmblr, and Twitter

Interpretive software

- Help identify themes and connections within text - Examples: ATLAS.ti and NVivo

Misuses of exploratory and qualitative research:

- Interpretation *Qualitative research cannot draw conclusive references - Replicability *When the same conclusion is reached based on another researcher's interpretation - Motivational research era *Too few researchers engaged in too much interpretation of too few respondents

Field Approaches for Interpreting Online Text

- Interpretative researchers apply specialized approaches to making sense of consumers' online postings - Some researchers look at the posting as a drama consisting of an act, agency, scene and purpose Other interpretative researchers use the term netnography to describe the application of ethnography to comments made in online communities

Qualitative research is useful when:

- It is difficult to develop specific and actionable decision statements or research objectives - The research objective is to develop a detailed and in-depth understanding of some phenomena - The research objective is to learn how consumers use a product in its natural setting or to learn how to express some concept in colloquial terms - The behavior the researcher is studying is particularly context-dependent - A fresh approach to studying the problem is needed

Depth Interview Procedure

- May last more than an hour - Produces the same amount of text as a focus group - Interviewer must be aware of what is happening - Records both surface reactions and subconscious motivations of the respondent - Analysis and interpretation is highly subjective - Particularly advantageous when the focus is on some unique or unusual behavior

Scientific Decision Processes

- Objectivity and replicability are two characteristics of scientific inquiry - A focus group, or a depth interview, or TAT alone cannot best represent a complete scientific inquiry - Before making a scientific decision, a research project should include a confirmatory study using objective tools

Major categories of qualitative research

- Phenomenology—originating in philosophy and psychology - Ethnography—originating in anthropology - Grounded theory—originating in sociology - Case studies—originating in psychology and in business research

What is grounded theory?

- Represents an inductive investigation in which the researcher poses questions about information provided by respondents or taken from historical records *Key questions: - What is happening here? - How is it different? *How is grounded theory used? - Text analysis - Computerized software

Qualitative research usually involves

- Smaller samples than the typical quantitative study - Acceptable in discovery-oriented research - Smaller sample sizes do not necessarily equate to cost savings

Netnography

- The application of ethnographic procedures to online phenomena - Observation plays a key role in ethnography

What are case studies?

- The documented history of a particular person, group, organization, or event - Themes are identified by the frequency with which the same term (or a synonym) arises in the narrative description

The primary barriers to scientific decisions

- Time - Money - Emotion

Qualitative research results

- are researcher-dependent, or subjective - Different researchers may reach different conclusions based on the same data

Qualitative Research

- interested more in qualities than quantities -referring to research that determines the makeup of some compound - the focus is on inner meaning of specific chemicals (their qualities)

A focus group session may typically take place at

- the research agency in a room specifically designed for this purpose - Agency facilities include studio-like rooms where the focus groups are conducted, viewed and recorded - Participants receive refreshments prior to the interview to help create a more relaxed atmosphere conducive to a free exchange of ideas

Focus Group Interviews

-Small group discussions led by a trained moderator *Type of Approach: - Ethnography, case studies Advantages: - Can be done quickly -Gain multiple perspectives -Flexibility Disadvantages: -Results do not generalize to larger populations -Difficult to use for sensitive topics -Expensive *6-10 people, relatively homogeneous, similar lifestyles and experiences