5: Qualitative and Observational Research Designs

5-2 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 Qualitative Research Qualitative research relies on the collection of data in the form of spoken or written text or images using open-ended questions, observation, or “found” data

5-3 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 Goals of Qualitative Research  Gain preliminary insight into research problems  Probe more deeply into areas that quantitative research is too superficial to access – i.e. subconscious processes  Provide initial ideas about specific problems, theories, relationships, variables, and scale design

5-4 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 Quantitative Research Quantitative research uses formal standard questions and predetermined response options in questionnaires or surveys administered to large numbers of respondents.

5-5 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 Goals of Quantitative Research  Make accurate predictions about consumer behaviors  Validate relationships suggested by qualitative research and test hypotheses in statistically sound ways  Derive mathematical models that describe consumer behaviors and marketing phenomena

5-6 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 Quantitative vs Qualitative Quantitative  Validation of facts, estimates, predications, relationships  Descriptive and causal designs  Mostly structured  Good representation of target populations – big samples  Statistical, descriptive, causal predictions, relationships analyses possible  More objective analysis method Qualitative  Discovery of ideas, feelings, preliminary insights and understanding of ideas  Exploratory designs only  Open-ended, semi- structured or unstructured  Small samples, limited generalizability  More subjective content analysis

5-7 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 Primary Qualitative Methods  Focus groups  In-depth interviews  “Hybrids”  Ethnography – “Deep Dives”  Netnography  Case Studies  Observation Methods – manual & mechanical

5-8 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 In-depth Interview An in-depth interview is a formal interview process in which a well-trained interviewer asks subjects a set of semi-structured questions in face-to-face setting

5-9 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 Objectives of IDI  Discover what subjects think about a topic and why  Understand subjects’ feelings, beliefs, opinions and why they exist  Encourage subject to communicate as much detail as possible  Generate new research ideas

5-10 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 Focus Groups A focus group is a formal process that brings a small group of people together for an interactive, spontaneous discussion.

5-11 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 Focus Group Characteristics  8-12 participants plus moderator  Session lasts 1 – 2 hours  Respondents paid $50-$200  Typically held at FG facility  Participants pre-screened  Overall cost $ per group

5-12 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 Objectives of Focus Groups  Identify data for defining and redefining research needs  Reveal consumers’ hidden attitudes  Generate new ideas for products, market opportunities and marketing strategy  Discover new constructs and measurement methods  Explain changing consumer preferences  Help develop advertising / promotion ideas

5-13 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 The Focus Group Process Phase 1: Planning the study Phase 2: Conducting the discussions Phase 3: Analyzing and reporting the results

5-14 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 FG Phase 1 Decisions  Participants  Who should be included?  How many groups should be held?  How will participants be recruited and screened ?  Size  Location

5-15 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 FG Phase 2 Components  Select a moderator and prepare guide  Begin the session with “ice-breaker”  Introduce the first topic and continue  Close the session

5-16 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 FG Phase 2 Guidance  Be nice, fun and accommodating  Offer snacks  Communicate ground rules  Prevent monopolization and groupthink  Solicit a reasonable amount of dissent and disagreement  Let conversation evolve naturally  Expect to forego some questions

5-17 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 FG Phase 3 Activities  Conduct a debriefing analysis  Transcribe discussions  Content analyze responses  Develop report  Decide next steps

5-18 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 Ethnography Ethnography is a form of qualitative data collection that records behavior in natural settings to understand how social and cultural influences affect individual behaviors and experiences

5-19 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 Forms of Ethnographic Research Participating observation Non-participating observation

5-20 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 Netnography Netnography is an ethnographic research technique that studies “found data” (consumer generated) on the internet produced by virtual communities.

5-21 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 Case Studies The case study technique involves thoroughly investigating one or more consumers (or consumer groups) of interest.

5-22 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 Projective Techniques  Word Association Tests  Thought Completion Tests  Thematic Apperception Test  Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET)  Q-Sort

5-23 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 Word Association  Which words come to mind when I say:  Ice Cream  Adidas  Desk  Education  Apple  Party  Cosmetics

5-24 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 Sentence Completion  A person who wears Tommy Hilfilger shirts is _____.  When I think of Delta Airlines, I ______________.

5-25 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 MACY’S Let’s get some clothes from Macy’s! Cartoon Completion

5-26 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 Thematic Apperception Test Write a story about this image.

5-27 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 ZMET Technique  Create a collage that expresses your feelings and opinions about…

5-28 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 Mechanical Observation Observation is the systematic witnessing and recording of behavioral patterns of objects, people, and events without directly communicating with them

5-29 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 Eye-Tracking - VisionTrack

5-30 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 fMRI – Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

5-31 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 EEGs - Electroencephalography

5-32 Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1e © McGraw-Hill/Irwin2008 Benefits and Limitations of Observation Benefits  Accuracy of recording actual behavior  Well-controlled experimental environments  Provides detailed behavioral data Limitations  Difficult to generalize findings  Cannot explain behaviors ( i.e. the “why?”)  Problems in setting up and recording behaviors  Ethical issues