Qualitative Research

Historical profile:
- It has its roots in clinical psychology.
- Since its pioneering days in the 1960’s qualitative has become a vital research methodology for companies/ brands/ agencies the world over.
- It seeks to help manufacturers and advertising agencies understand their consumers.
- Qualitative accesses relatively small samples but researches them in considerable detail to develop understanding and insights.

What is Qualitative R?
- It answers questions based on:
- WHY……?
- HOW……?
- WHAT……?
- It looks at the consumer as a person, an individual with needs, desires and motivations.
- It seeks to dig beyond the rational & superficial response to what really makes consumers tick!

What QR cannot do……?
- How many? – in testing product preferences
- Measure – the potential of a new product
- Monitor – quantify the success of an ad campaign
- Forecast

What QR can do……?
- Understand, discover, diagnose, gain insight.
- In Mar terms: explore markets and brands; develop ideas, concepts, products; diagnose problem areas.

How Q Does work ?
- Group 1: Initial learning
- Group 2: Test Hypotheses
- Group 3: Increase learning; Confirm/reject hypotheses.
- Group 4: Accumulated learning/ understanding.
- Analysis
- Interpretation
- Mar focused findings

Respondent recruitment: by a printed questionnaire pre-approved. Methods are as bellow:
- Intercepts
- Door to door
- Networking

The methodology tool box:
Ultimately, methodological selection will be firmly based on which best serve the objectives.
Among the Group Discussions, choose: standard, mini, extended, creativity or reconvened.

Group discussions are the primary interview approach used in QR. They provide:
- free flow of debate
- interchange of ideas
- flexibility
- an environment which encourages discussion

Standard groups are normally:
- 8 people
- 2 hours long
- conducted in a dedicated viewing facility (one-way mirror, camera, ...)

Depth Interviews:
- Mr + Mrs
- Friendship Depths
- Paired Depths
- Standard Depths

DI is a smaller and more personalized interview approach, and are particularly useful for:

- gathering personal/ intimate responses (e.g personal finance, sex...)

- understanding complex issues such as print media

- assessing different family members roles in the purchase of "big ticket items" (e.g electrical appliances).

OTHERS METHODOLOGIES:

- Consumer forum

- Ethnography

- Triads

- Clinics

- Observation

- Accompanied shopping

- In-home interviews

- Product placement.

(Be continued)