Chapter Seven Information Collection: Qualitative and Observational Methods

Examples Tiffany’s is researching possible positioning options for their new ad campaign Starbucks seeks to understand its brand associations Las Vegas tries to understand why tourists love to visit the city You try to figure out the fierce loyalty HOGS have for Harley Davidson

Common theme What is the common theme that runs through these research questions: –“seek to understand” –seek insights You have no clue about the “trait” –(which if you did, you would frame a close-ended question and do quantitative research) Qualitative inquiry to find out the ‘trait’

Tiffany’s ad campaign

Information Collection : Qualitative and Observational Methods Qualitative methods –To find out what is in the person’s mind –Relatively unstructured stimulus A range of responses possible (e.g. What thoughts come to your mind when you think about Winthrop) –Prelude to a quantitative study –Used to measure motivations, hidden thoughts and feelings, etc. (the question ‘why’) –Greater potential for new insights

Qualitative Research Exploratory –Problem definition (e.g. why are sales down in the Northeast?) –Suggesting hypotheses –Generating new product concepts and features (e.g. What new features would you like to see in your cell phone?) –Preliminary reactions to new concepts (e.g. millenials) –Pre-testing questionnaires (e.g. what problems do you see in the questionnaire) Orientation –Appreciating new perspectives (cross cultural research) and vocabulary (what does a word mean e.g. meh, etc.) Clinical –Insights into topics heavily influenced by desirability bias (e.g. why do at-risk people resort to questionable behaviors?)

Individual In-depth Interviews Non-directive interviews Semi-structured or focused individual interviews –Create a relaxed atmosphere –Ability to probe critical questions –Ability to bring back the interview on course Laddering: A technique to elicit higher-order benefits / issues from a tangible product characteristic

Laddering – Another example

Laddering – another example

Focus Group Discussions Discussion of 8 to 12 subjects moderated by a discussion leader Used in the exploratory phase of the market research process Intended to provoke spontaneity Group interaction Chain reaction (adding forces you to think), devil’s advocate (present extreme viewpoints), false termination (“one more thing…”)

Focus Groups Hershey’s has plans to introduce a soya milk chocolate bar.

Effective focus groups Plan the agenda –The introduction –The main issues Recruitment –Homogeneity –Some contrast for a lively discussion –Experienced panels Moderator –Friendly, flexible and firm (3 Fs) Results –Recording, coding, inter-coder reliability

Problems with focus groups Peer pressure Desirability in the group / anxious to belong Shy participants Controlling participants Undue influence Sensitized participants- spontaneity is questionable

Projective Techniques Used when respondent will not or cannot respond meaningfully Comment upon rather unstructured or ambiguous object, activity. Objective: reveal hidden feelings and opinions Respondent projects own opinion on something else: task, third person, object

Projective Techniques Word Association –Immediate response word to the stimulus word (stimulus word is mixed with neutral words) –Conclusions based on Response latency Frequency of mentioned word Number of respondents who do not respond at all to the test word –Used to find out brand associations

Word Associations Tests

Projective Techniques Completion tests –Give an incomplete sentence and ask the participant to complete it –E.g. I love Vegas because --- Dialogue balloons –Show a picture / cartoon and suggest what the actors are saying Picture Interpretation techniques –Project yourself into the picture and suggest the brand that comes to your mind

Projective techniques Third person technique –Ask how friends, neighbors or an average person would react to a situation –Respondents tend to project their feelings –Address sensitive questions –E.g. “If you were to see your neighbor talk to his car, what do you suppose he/she would be saying?” Role playing –Respondents attitudes surface during the role-play

Limitations of Qualitative Methods Potential susceptibility of the results to get misused or misinterpreted Small samples – limited generalizability Moderator or interviewer's role – can heavily influence the outcomes Volume and complexity of analysis

Observational Methods Casual Observation Systematic Observation –Direct Observation (observe an activity in its natural setting) –Contrived Observation (a situation is created and participants are observed) Content Analysis (observation of written content) Physical Trace Measures (trace of the behavior left behind) Humanistic Inquiry (ethnography) Behavior Recording Devices (people meter, bar code scanners, eye-movement, voice pitch analysis, etc.)

Evaluation of Observational Methods Cannot be used to observe motives, attitudes or intentions Often more costly and time consuming Often the only method to collect data

Projective Technique