Qualitative Research: Good Decision Making Through Understanding People, Cultures and Markets

Commercial marketing researchers have been using qualitative research approaches since at least the 1940s. The motivation researchers exemplified by the Freudian psychologist Ernest Dichter, employed depth interviews and projective techniques to unearth “hidden” consumer motivations (Tadajewski, 2006). Examples of powerful motivations associated with consumption include the role of guilt, deservedness, reward for a hard day's work, and emotional shadows of parental authority. These motivations were applied in branding and persuasive communications in categories such as banking, cigarettes, and confectionary. Anthropologists such as Lloyd Warner from the University of Chicago employed the same tools that he had used to study indigenous people in the 1920s in Australia, to that of contemporary American communities (Levy, 2003). He used ethnographic techniques to delineate modern consumer tribes in American cities. Warner highlighted the impact of socio‐historical background on a great range of social and consumption practices. He raised the idea that social class is about more than just ability to buy, but extended into ingrained tastes, preferences, and worldviews. These early marketing researchers popularised depth interviewing, projective techniques, and the now common and familiar focus group.

This early prolific use of qualitative methods hits a roadblock with the “quantitative turn” of the 1960‐1970s. This temporary shift was driven by computerisation that enabled sophisticated data management and statistical analysis. This heralded the rise of survey research promising the certainty of science and “hard” numbers. Of course, times have changed in ways where marketers understand distinctive strengths and suitable roles for both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Sheila Keegan argues in Qualitative Research, “the traditional division between qualitative and quantitative approaches is becoming increasingly blurred.” These days' researchers are more likely to be mixing methods in ways that better address client problems. To be sure researchers tend to specialise in particular methods. However, specialists often need to work in concert for the kind of multi‐method projects that client problems really need.

Contemporary marketing, organisational, political, and social research all appear deluged with qualitative methods. On any given evening in major cities across the world, interview facilities are often booked out for focus group sessions viewed behind one‐way mirrors by client and agency participants. The focus group is ubiquitous yet much maligned. For many observers the process does not look at all hard. After all, it often looks much like an everyday discussion where the moderator simply follows the guide. This leaves the (false) impression amongst many observers that qualitative is soft and fuzzy – that qualitative work is imprecise. Many of us have experienced the example of the client turning up to a single focus group session where they zero in on selective comments made by a specific participant, that often fits their preconceptions. Then, there is the common client critique heard in the viewing room, along the lines of; are we going to let these eight people determine our campaign? Or another variant; how representative are these eight people of our target market?

Given the volume of research, the question also arises as to the value clients are receiving. Every piece of research appears to produce unique “insights.” Yet, if every marketer is successfully unearthing unique insights then it begs the question as to why so many new products and advertising campaigns fail. These issues make Sheila Keegan's book an important contribution to improving the quality of research output. She sets out to combine “how to” advice with theoretical underpinnings. In this regard, the author should be commended. Keegan manages to cover a diverse range of methods and applications with considerable hands‐on detail. She liberally employs examples and cases to bring the methods to life – thus providing concrete illustrations of each technique.

The book also examines some of the less common uses of qualitative research. For example, Chapter 10 focuses on harnessing consumer creativity to generate new ideas. She notes that this is one of the more contentious uses of qualitative research. Yet, argues that one of the objections relates to lack of marketer understanding that their customers are often inherently creative and willing to contribute ideas, if the right environment is present. Keegan discusses two approaches to idea generation. First, creative forums use informants that are handpicked for their creative ability, which is stimulated and directed during the sessions using creative problem solving exercises. The forums can last from a few hours to a few days and involve clients and designers sitting side‐by‐side with consumers. The second approach that Keegan discusses involves setting up short‐term on‐line communities where collaboration and idea exchange is fostered.

In addition to addressing a broad range of methodological techniques, Keegan also advises on front‐end issues such as the response to the initial client brief and subsequent research design; and back‐end issues of communicating finding to the client. Both front‐ and back‐end activities are closely related because clear understanding of client needs and expectation setting from the outset impacts a client's satisfaction with the final outcome. In this regard, Keegan advocates open discussion to clarify the goals, and lays out a detailed list of issues that need to be thought through and agreed with the client prior to implementation. The final reporting of qualitative research is clearly different to quantitative research that can be summarised in tables, graphs, and statistics. In the case of qualitative research, an enormous amount of diverse verbal, visual, and artifactual material is often collected. The subsequent task is to distil all this material into what Keegan terms, a “plausible story.” I wholeheartedly agree with this characterisation. However, it is also a primary area of attack by qualitative sceptics who counter that many “stories” we hear in everyday life are actually fanciful. On the other hand, we also know that conveying our ideas in story form can have enormous persuasive and empathetic impact. This rarely occurs in cold clinical quantitative presentations that consist of table after table of numbers. The ideal for a qualitative researcher is to convey something of the consumers in question where the client comes to know and better appreciate those people in a more intimate fashion. The onus is therefore on the researcher to develop a coherent narrative about the consumers in question that is both compelling and believable. Credibility should be routed in strong understanding of theory drawn from consumer behaviour, cultural studies, sociology, or psychology. The case for plausibility can be enhanced by meshing interpretation of field data with established theory.

The primary target for this book is described as “qualitative researchers who are new to the business.” For this group, the book is most certainly an essential read. I also think that the book provides a useful resource for brand and marketing managers who commission (often) expensive research projects. As noted earlier, there is a mountain of commercial research going on at any point of time and too much of it appears to add limited value to marketing decisions. If we accept the idea that good marketing decisions are founded on superior consumer understandings, then clients really do need to gain a better appreciation of the ingredients for effective qualitative research.