Qualitative Techniques in Marketing Research

1. Qualitative Techniques in Marketing Research A Presentation for the Marketing Research module

2. (MARKETECK, 2009)

4. Qualitative Research... • Is any research conducted using an observational technique or unstructured questioning. • Conducted: • when structured research is not possible, • when true response may not be available [embarrassing “touchy questions”] • to explain quantitative research results.

6. Examples of Methods

7. Most Common Methods in Marketing Research

8. Qualitative researchObservation techniques Classification of Observation Direct vs indirect: • Direct = observing behavior as it occurs • Indirect = observing the effects of behavior Disguised vs nondisguised • Nondisguised =Direct • Disguised = Indirect Structured vs unstructured Structured = predetermine what to observe Unstructured=monitor all behavior Human vs Mechanical Human=observation done by human beings Mechanical=observation by machine

9. Not Always Appropriate!!

10. Observation • Appropriate Conditions • The event must occur in a short time interval, Avoid lag affect • Must occur in a setting where the researcher can observe the behavior Praying, cooking are not suitable things to observe • Necessary under situations of faulty recall Faulty recall - remembering things such as how many times one looked at his wristwatch.

11. Observation:Advantages and Limitations • Advantages • Greater data accuracy than direct questioning, in natural settings people behave naturally, • Problems of refusal, not at home, false response, non-cooperation etc. are absent, • No recall error, • In some situations, only way • Number of customers visiting a store • Studying children’s behavior • Limitations • Time consuming, too many things to observe, • may not be representative, • difficulty in determining root cause of the behavior.

12. Focus Group An interview conducted by a trained moderator in a non-structured and natural manner with a small group of respondents. Group size 8 -12 Group composition Homogenous, respondents prescreened Physical setting Relaxed, informal setting Time duration 1 - 3 hours Recording Use of audio and video cassettes Moderator Observational, interpersonal, good communication skills needed.

13. Focus Groups Objectives: - Generate new product or service ideas • Understand consumer vocabulary • Useful for ad campaigns • Reveal consumer needs, motives, perceptions and attitudes, • Generating future research objectives • Facilitate understanding of quantitative studies

14. Focus Group: Advantages and Disadvantages • Major Advantages: • Synergism, Snowballing, Stimulation, Security, Spontaneity, Speed and Cost savings. • Major Disadvantages: • Lack of representativeness, Misuse, Misjudge, Moderation problem, and Difficulty of analysis

15. Seven advantages of Focus Group I

16. Seven advantages of Focus Group

17. Five Disadvantages of Focus Group

18. Other Qualitative Techniques Depth Interview:An unstructured interview that seeks opinions of respondents on a one-to-one basis. Useful for sensitive issues, politics etc. Protocol Analysis:Involves placing a person in a decision making situation and asking him/her to state everything he/she considers in making a decision. Useful in 1. Purchasing involving a long time frame (car, house) and 2. Where the decision process is too short (greeting card). Projective technique:Involve situations in which participants are placed in simulated activities hoping that they will divulge information about themselves that are unlikely to be revealed under direct questing.

19. Example: Delphi technique for Retail Food

20. Projective Techniques • These are indirect interviewing methods which enable sampled respondents to project their views, beliefs and feelings onto a third-party or into some task situation. • The researcher sets up a situation for the respondents asking them to express their own views, or to complete/ interpret some ambiguous stimulus presented to them. • Various types. More common ones are: • Free Word Association • Sentence Completion • Unfinished scenario/story completion • Cartoon completion test

21. FREE WORD ASSOCIATION In this technique, a list of carefully selected stimulus words or phrases related to the topic of research are read out, one at a time, to a respondent. The respondent is asked to respond with the first word or phrase that comes to his/her mind.The list of words should contain a mixture of test words and neutral words.

22. CARTOON COMPLETION TEST In the cartoon technique, the respondent is shown a comic-strip like cartoon with two characters in a conversation. While the speech of one character is shown in his/her balloon,the other balloon is empty. The respondent is asked to assume the role of the other person and fill the empty balloon with a speech. Where can I get a watch of this quality?

23. SUMMARY • Qualitative research can be used alone or as part of mixed research • Main advantage is that is capable generating rich data on WHY? • Useful when looking at NEWthings • Rich data may be difficult to analyse