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