Table 1. Overview of qualitative... | Emerald Publishing

Table 1.

Overview of qualitative research designs to address complex phenomena in marketing

Research design	Description	Examples of research within the context of marketing and consumption	Strengths	Limitations
Single method design	Exploratory, in-depth methods, including interviews, focus groups, ethnography and netnography to understand meanings, experiences and contexts	In-depth case studies of consumers and their relationships with brands (Fournier, 1998) In-depth interviews with consumers discussing their experiences of fashion (Thompson and Haytko, 1997) Content analysis of greenfluencers on Instagram (Hoek et al., 2025) Analysis of Instagram sustainability brand posts and follower comments (Bulmer et al., 2024) Analysis of dominant anti-consumption discourses on websites (Cherrier, 2009)	Provides rich, contextual insights; captures complexity and nuance	Data are less trustworthy and dependable (no triangulation); single methods; subjective analysis; limited generalisability
Multi-method design	Design combining two or more qualitative methods (e.g. interviews and visual methods; interviews and observations)	Netnography, multi-method observation and qualitative depth-interviews investigating engagement in online consumer brand communities (Brodie et al., 2013) Digital ethnography, visual narrative analysis and in-depth interviews investigating visual narratives on the environmental crisis on Instagram (San Cornelio et al., 2024) Visual stimuli and interviews to investigate consumer motivations to post brand content (Nanne et al., 2024)	Combines strengths of multiple methods; provides holistic understanding; comprehensive insights; ensures rigour	Analysis complexity due to various data sets and difficulty synthesising data; theoretical misalignment
Multi-phase, multi-method design	Design that involves multiple methods across multiple phases	The Consumer Odyssey project involved mobile ethnography, participant observation, depth interviews, artifact and visual documentation and team-based interpretive analysis (e.g. sacred and profane possessions and consumption, Belk et al., 1989) Ethnography, interviews and staged fieldwork to understand extraordinary consumption experiences (Arnould and Price, 1993) Ethnographic research design, combining immersive fieldwork and analysis of social-media storytelling to understand digital stories and the process of market innovation (Cayla et al., 2025)	Comprehensive; captures different perspectives; triangulation; flexible and adaptable; enables theory development	Resource- and time-intensive, synthesising diverse types of qualitative data across methods and phases

Research design	Description	Examples of research within the context of marketing and consumption	Strengths	Limitations
Single method design	Exploratory, in-depth methods, including interviews, focus groups, ethnography and netnography to understand meanings, experiences and contexts	In-depth case studies of consumers and their relationships with brands (Fournier, 1998) In-depth interviews with consumers discussing their experiences of fashion (Thompson and Haytko, 1997) Content analysis of greenfluencers on Instagram (Hoek et al., 2025) Analysis of Instagram sustainability brand posts and follower comments (Bulmer et al., 2024) Analysis of dominant anti-consumption discourses on websites (Cherrier, 2009)	Provides rich, contextual insights; captures complexity and nuance	Data are less trustworthy and dependable (no triangulation); single methods; subjective analysis; limited generalisability
Multi-method design	Design combining two or more qualitative methods (e.g. interviews and visual methods; interviews and observations)	Netnography, multi-method observation and qualitative depth-interviews investigating engagement in online consumer brand communities (Brodie et al., 2013) Digital ethnography, visual narrative analysis and in-depth interviews investigating visual narratives on the environmental crisis on Instagram (San Cornelio et al., 2024) Visual stimuli and interviews to investigate consumer motivations to post brand content (Nanne et al., 2024)	Combines strengths of multiple methods; provides holistic understanding; comprehensive insights; ensures rigour	Analysis complexity due to various data sets and difficulty synthesising data; theoretical misalignment
Multi-phase, multi-method design	Design that involves multiple methods across multiple phases	The Consumer Odyssey project involved mobile ethnography, participant observation, depth interviews, artifact and visual documentation and team-based interpretive analysis (e.g. sacred and profane possessions and consumption, Belk et al., 1989) Ethnography, interviews and staged fieldwork to understand extraordinary consumption experiences (Arnould and Price, 1993) Ethnographic research design, combining immersive fieldwork and analysis of social-media storytelling to understand digital stories and the process of market innovation (Cayla et al., 2025)	Comprehensive; captures different perspectives; triangulation; flexible and adaptable; enables theory development	Resource- and time-intensive, synthesising diverse types of qualitative data across methods and phases

Source(s): Authors’ own work