Chapter 2
Consumer Research
Consumer Research Paradigms
Quantitative
Research
Qualitative
Research
Quantitative Research
• Descriptive in nature.
• Enables marketers to “predict” consumer
behavior.
• Research methods include experiments, survey
techniques, and observation.
• Findings are descriptive, empirical and
generalizable.
Positivism
A consumer behavior
research approach that
regards the consumer
behavior discipline as an
applied marketing science.
Its main focus is on
consumer decision making.
Qualitative Research
• Consists of depth interviews, focus groups,
metaphor analysis, collage research, and
projective techniques.
• Administered by highly trained intervieweranalysts.
• Findings tend to be subjective.
• Findings not usually generalizable
• Small sample sizes.
Interpretivism
A postmodernist approach to
the study of consumer
behavior that focuses on the
act of consuming rather than
on the act of buying.
Interpretivism
• Concerned with act of consumption
rather than in the act of buying.
• Uses qualitative research.
• Use depth interviews.
• Often used to help make business
decisions.
Depth
Interviews
A lengthy and relatively
unstructured interview
designed to uncover a
consumer’s underlying
attitudes and/or motivations.
Combining Qualitative and
Quantitative Research Findings
• The research paradigms are complementary in
nature.
• Produce a richer and more robust profile of
consumer behavior than either research
approach used alone.
The Consumer Research Process
• The six major steps in the consumer research
process are:
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defining the objectives of the research
collecting and evaluating secondary data
designing a primary research study
collecting primary data
analyzing the data
preparing a report on the findings
Developing Research Objectives
• Defining purposes and objectives helps
ensure an appropriate research design.
• A statement of objectives helps to define the
type and level of information needed.
Secondary
Data
Data that has been collected
for reasons other than the
specific research project at
hand.
Collecting Secondary Data
• Secondary information is any data originally
generated for some purpose other than the
present research objectives.
• Provides clues and direction for the design of
primary research.
Primary
Research
Original research undertaken
by individual researchers or
organizations to meet
specific objectives.
Collected information is
called Primary Data.
Designing Primary Research
• Quantitative studies more likely for collecting
descriptive information.
• Qualitative studies may be used to get new
ideas.
Quantitative Research Designs
Method
Sample Design
Data Collection
Instrument
Data Collection Methods
Observation
Experimentation
Surveys
Observational Research
• Helps marketers gain an in-depth understanding of
the relationship between people and products by
watching them buying and using products.
• Helps researchers gain a better understanding of
what the product symbolizes.
• Widely used by interpretivist researchers.
Experimentation
• Can be used to test the relative sales appeal of
many types of variables.
• Only one variable is manipulated at a time,
keeping other elements constant.
• Can be conducted in laboratories or in the
field.
Surveys
Personal Interview
Mail
Telephone
Online
Data Collection Instruments
Questionnaires
Personal
Inventories
Attitude
Scales
Discussion
Guides
Validity
The degree to which a
measurement instrument
accurately reflects what it is
designed to measure.
Reliability
The degree to which a
measurement instrument is
consistent in what it
measures.
Questionnaires
• Used primarily for quantitative research.
• Can be sent in the mail, or administered by
interviewers in person or by telephone.
• Can be disguised or undisguised as to its true
purpose.
• Questions can be open-ended or closed-ended.
Personal Inventories
• Presents a series of statements to which
respondents indicate their degree of agreement
or disagreement.
• An inventory presents a list of statements,
while a questionnaire asks a series of
questions.
Attitude Scales
• The three most frequently used scales are:
– Likert scales: easy for researchers to prepare
and interpret, and simple for consumers to
answer.
– Semantic differential scales: relatively easy to
construct and administer.
– Rank-order scales: subjects rank items in order
of preference in terms of some criteria.
Qualitative Data Collection Methods
Depth
Interviews
Focus
Groups
Projective
Techniques
Metaphor
Analysis
Depth Interviews
• A lengthy non structured interview between a
respondent and a highly trained interviewer.
• Interviewer minimizes his or her own
participation after establishing the general
subject matter.
• Can provide marketers with valuable ideas
about product design and provide insights for
positioning or repositioning the product.
Focus Group
A qualitative research
method in which about eight
to ten persons participate in
an unstructured group
interview about a product or
service concept.
Focus Groups
• Consists of 8 to 10 respondents who meet with a
moderator-analyst for a focused group discussion.
• Respondents encouraged to discuss their interests,
attitudes, reactions, motives, lifestyles, feelings
about the product or product category, usage
experience, etc.
• Respondents recruited on the basis of consumer
profiles, based on specifications defined by
marketing management.
Projective
Techniques
Research procedures
designed to identify
consumers’ subconscious
feelings and motivations.
These tests often require
consumers to interpret
ambiguous stimuli such as
incomplete sentences,
cartoons, or inkblots.
Projective Techniques
• Consist of a variety of disguised “tests” that
contain ambiguous stimuli.
• Sometimes administered as part of a focus
group, but usually used with depth interviews.
• The theory is that respondents’ inner feelings
influence how they perceive stimuli.
Metaphor Analysis
• Based on belief that metaphors are the most basic
method of thought and communication.
• Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET)
combines collage research and metaphor analysis
to bring to the surface the mental models and the
major themes or constructs that drive consumer
thinking and behavior.
• Consumer values also play an important role in
understanding consumer behavior.
Sampling Plan Decisions
Whom to
survey?
How many?
How to
select them?
Analysis
• Qualitative Research: Moderator or
test administrator usually analyzes
responses.
• Quantitative Research: Researcher
supervises the analysis.
– Open-ended responses are coded and
quantified
– Responses are tabulated and analyzed
Conducting A Research Study
• Researchers often adapt the research
process to the special needs of the study.
• Together with the marketing manager,
the researcher specifies the parameters of
the population to be studied.
• A qualitative study might be undertaken
first to gather information about the
target population's attitudes and concerns
about certain items.
• Then a quantitative study may be
conducted to confirm and attach “hard”
numbers to the findings.