Essentials of
Marketing Research
Exploratory Research
Chapter 5:
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D.
Research Design - I
Exploratory Research:
Objective:
Discovery of ideas and insights.
Characteristics: Flexible, Versatile, Unstructured,
Often the Front End of total Research Design,
Small Non-representative Sample,
Analyses typically qualitative.
Findings:
Tentative, typically followed by further
exploratory, descriptive or causal research.
Methods:
Literature Search, Focus Groups, Experience
Surveys, Pilot Surveys, Expert Interviews, Case
Studies, Reliance on Secondary Data.
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
EXPLORATORY RESEARCH
• INITIAL RESEARCH CONDUCTED TO
CLARIFY AND DEFINE THE NATURE
OF A PROBLEM
• DOES NOT PROVIDE CONCLUSIVE
EVIDENCE
• SUBSEQUENT RESEARCH EXPECTED
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
Exploratory Research
• Unstructured, informal, and sometimes intuitive
• Used for –
–
–
–
–
–
–
Gain background information.
Define terms.
Clarify problems and hypotheses.
Establish research priorities.
Diagnose a situation
Screening of alternatives
Discover new ideas
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
WHAT IS EXPLORATORY
RESEARCH?
QUANTITATIVE
DATA
QUALITATIVE
DATA
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
Exploratory Research Techniques
• Qualitative Research
– Experience surveys
– Case analysis
– Pilot Studies:
• Projective techniques.
• Focus groups
• Depth Interview.
– Other qualitative techniques (secondary data &
observation, etc.)??
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
“Knowing when to use
qualitative research, and
importantly when not to is a
crucial skill in a research
manager’s judgment.”
Malcolm Baker, President
The B/R/S Group, Inc.
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
EXPERIENCE SURVEYS
• ASK KNOWLEDGEABLE
INDIVIDUALS
• ABOUT A PARTICULAR
RESEARCH PROBLEM
• MOST ARE QUITE WILLING
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
“If you wish to know the road up the
mountain, you must ask the man who
goes back and forth on it.”
-- Zenrinkusi
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
CASE STUDY METHOD
• INTENSELY INVESTIGATES ONE OR A
FEW SITUATIONS SIMILAR TO THE
PROBLEM
• INVESTIGATE IN DEPTH
• CAREFUL STUDY
• MAY REQUIRE COOPERATION
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
PILOT STUDY
• A COLLECTIVE TERM
• ANY SMALL SCALE EXPLORATORY
STUDY THAT USES SAMPLING
• BUT DOES NOT APPLY RIGOROUS
STANDARDS
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES
•
•
•
•
•
WORD ASSOCIATION TESTS
SENTENCE COMPLETION METHOD
THIRD-PERSON TECHNIQUE
ROLE PLAYING
T.A.T (and PICTURE FRUSTRATION VERSION OF
TAT)
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“A man is least himself when he talks
in his own person; when given a mask
he will tell the truth.”
--Oscar Wilde
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
WORD ASSOCIATION
• SUBJECT IS PRESENTED WITH A LIST
OF WORDS
• ASKED TO RESPOND WITH FIRST
WORD THAT COMES TO MIND
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WORD ASSOCIATION
EXAMPLES
• GREEN
• CHEESE
• MONEY
• KRAFT
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SENTENCE COMPLETION
People who drink beer are ______________________
A man who drinks light beer is ___________________
Imported beer is most liked by ___________________
The woman in the commercial ____________________
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THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST
TAT
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FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEWS
•
•
•
•
UNSTRUCTURED
FREE FLOWING
GROUP INTERVIEW
START WITH
BROAD TOPIC AND
FOCUS IN ON
SPECIFIC ISSUES
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GROUP COMPOSITION
• 6 TO 10 PEOPLE
• RELATIVELY
HOMOGENEOUS
• SIMILAR
LIFESTYLES AND
EXPERIENCES
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
Focus groups
• Small group of people brought together and
guided by a moderator through an unstructured,
spontaneous discussion about some topic.
• Goal is to draw out ideas, feelings, and
experiences about a certain issues that would be
obscured by more structured methods.
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
Focus Group Objectives
• To generate ideas.
• To understand consumer vocabulary.
• To reveal consumer needs, motives,
perceptions, and attitudes.
• To understand findings from quantitative
studies.
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
Focus Group Moderator
• The “Man (or woman) with the plan”!
• Conducts the entire session and guides the flow of group
discussion.
• Must have excellent observation, interpersonal, and
communication skills, Interacts, listens, develops rapport.
• Must be sensitive to participants situations and comments,
promotes interaction.
• Must be prepared.
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
Reporting and Use of Focus
Group Results
• Some sense must be made by translating the
qualitative statements of participants into
categories.
• Demographic and buyer behavior
characteristics should be judged against the
target market profile.
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
Focus Group Pros and Cons
• Advantages
– Generate fresh ideas
– Allow clients to observe
the group
– Generally versatile
– Works well with special
respondents.
• Disadvantages
– May not represent the
population
– Interpretation is subjective
– Expensive
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
Exploratory Research Techniques
• Quantitative Research
– Secondary data analyses
– Observation
– Physiological measurement
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
Observation Techniques
• Observation methods - researcher relies on
his or her powers of observation rather than
communicating with respondent
• Direct versus Indirect
• Disguised versus Undisguised
• Structured versus Unstructured
• Human versus Mechanical
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
Direct or Indirect
• Direct observation
– Observing behavior as it occurs
• Indirect observation
– Observe effects or results of behavior
– Use archives or physical traces
• Archives - secondary data
• Physical traces - tangible evidence of some event
(e.g., garbology)
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
Disguised or Undisguised
• Disguised - unaware of observation
– “Secret shopper”
– One-way mirrors
– Hidden cameras
• Undisguised
– Laboratory settings
– “Ride withs”
– “Knowing” may bias the responses.
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
Structured or Unstructured
• Structured - researchers agree beforehand
which behaviors are to be observed and
recorded.
• Unstructured - No restrictions, all behavior
is observed.
– Observer must be thoroughly briefed on the
areas of general concern.
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
Human or Mechanical
• Human - a person observes
• Mechanical - a machine observes
– turnstiles, scanners, people meters, etc.
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
When to use observation
• Short time interval - involves activities that
generally occur over a short time span.
• Public behavior - setting where researchers
can readily observe.
• Faulty recall - when actions or activities are
so repetitive that the respondent cannot
recall specifics.
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
Advantages . . .
•
•
•
•
Subjects are unaware*
React in a natural manner*
No chance for recall error
Less costly and more accurate
* Assuming disguised observation.
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
Limitations . . .
• Only a small number of subjects are studied
(Dracula Syndrome - suck too much out of a
few subjects).
• Is sample representative?
• Motivations, attitudes, and internal
conditions are not observed.
• Multiple observers (inconsistency)
• Subjective Interpretation
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
Other Techniques
• Depth interviews
• Protocol analysis - Decision maker’s view
• Projective techniques
–
–
–
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Shopping basket
Personality completion
Cartoon or balloon test
Role-playing activity
• Physiological measurement - Galvanometer,
Pupilometer, etc.
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
SECONDARY DATA ANALYSIS
• DATA COLLECTED FOR A PURPOSE
OTHER THAN THE PROJECT AT HAND
• ECONOMICAL
• QUICK SOURCE FOR BACKGROUND
INFORMATION
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
Next Stage - Quantitative Research
• Quantitative research
– involves structured questions
– predetermined response options
– large number of respondents involved.
• Sizable representative sample of the
population
• Formalized data gathering procedure
• Specific purpose
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..
Qualitative or Quantitative Research?
Does it have to be one or the other?
It depends . . .maybe both - Pluralistic
Research.
Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D..