Qualitative Market Research An International Journal

Bernard Cova; Richard Elliott

2008 Qualitative Market Research An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/13522750810864396

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce the contents of the special issue and to clarify and extend conceptual and managerial debates concerning interpretive consumer research (ICR). Design/methodology/approach – A discursive approach is adopted. The arguments are supported by quotes from authoritative publications in the field. Findings – Researching the consumer has progressed far beyond the research for managerial implications and has become a major focus for the social sciences. In the field of qualitative market research, interpretive approaches to studying consumer behaviour are playing an increasing role. However, the economic and psychological heritage of consumer behaviour impedes appreciation of their aims, analytic logics, and methodological contributions. Ten issues about ICR are detailed in order to provide an integrative overview of what ICR is or is not. Originality/value – Provides an insider's view and serves as a useful overview of debates and developments in the field.

Margaret K. Hogg; Pauline Maclaran

2008 Qualitative Market Research An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/13522750810864404

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how consumer researchers working in the interpretivist tradition go about composing well founded theorized storylines, in order to convince audiences of the soundness of the theory‐building which emanates from their studies. Design/methodology/approach – An analytical framework was derived from Golden‐Biddle and Locke's study of organizational ethnographers to see how they made their accounts convincing to their audiences. Golden‐Biddle and Locke's analysis revealed 3Ds – authenticity, plausibility and criticality (each with a variety of sub‐dimensions) – that played key rhetorical roles in convincing readers. Findings – Using this analytical framework (summarized in three tables), examples from a variety of authors' work in Journal of Consumer Research ( JCR ) were drawn upon to illustrate how interpretivist consumer behaviour authors tackled these three key dimensions: authenticity, plausibility and criticality. Research limitations/implications – Only a limited set of JCR studies out of an extensive field of qualitative research in consumer behaviour were analyzed. Originality/value – Little attention has been paid hitherto to the actual practices of writing qualitative research within the marketing field. The more basic writing techniques involved in qualitative research tend to be regarded as implicit, skills that are acquired by osmosis rather than being formally taught or made explicit. This can make it particularly difficult for less‐experienced interpretivist researchers to learn the tools of their qualitative trade, which are often taken for granted by longer standing researchers. The paper seeks to make some of these writing practices more transparent and some of the rhetorical devices more explicit for authors who may wish to improve their own writing styles or strengthen their ability to use rhetoric.

The VOICE Group

2008 Qualitative Market Research An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/13522750810864413

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the challenges and opportunities of collaboration in interpretive consumer research. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews literature on research teamwork, particularly on qualitative and international projects. It also provides an account of research collaboration on an interpretive research project across four countries, involving eight researchers. Findings – Despite the cult of individualism in academic life, most articles in leading marketing journals are now written by multi‐author teams. The process and implications of research collaboration, particularly on qualitative and international projects, have received little attention within the marketing literature. Qualitative collaborations call for another layer of reflexivity and attention to the politics and emotions of teamwork. They also require the negotiation of a social contract acceptable to the group and conducive to the emergence of different perspectives throughout the research process. Originality/value – While issues surrounding the researcher‐research participant relationship are well explored in the field, this paper tackles an issue that often remains tacit in the marketing literature, namely the impact of the relationships between researchers. The paper draws on accounts of other research collaborations as well as authors' experiences, and discusses how interpersonal and cross‐cultural dynamics influence the work of interpretive research teams.

Antonella Carù; Bernard Cova

2008 Qualitative Market Research An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/13522750810864422

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance and utility of introspective accounts to ethnography when it deals with consumption experiences. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the changes in the way “reflexive consumers” write introspective narratives about their intimate thoughts and deep feelings lived during an experience and takes advantage of previous research carried out in different contexts, e.g. music concerts and internet‐based services. Findings – The paper specifies the more original stages of a complete ethnographic approach to consumption experience. These include co‐immersing; organising the narratives' write‐up; combining the experience's time frame with data generated via observation and introspection; and producing interpretations that will vary depending on the consumer's expressed level of pleasure. Research limitations/implications – This type of approach does not work in all consumption situations, nor does it apply to all consumers. Practical implications – The combination of observation and introspection will enrich researchers' toolboxes in the quest to unravel the increasingly complex and unpredictable experiences the consumption of today products and services affords consumers. Originality/value – The paper advocates that the writing up of introspective narratives and diaries has become a common practice for reflexive consumers accustomed to telling their stories online that must be used in market research.

Lionel Sitz

2008 Qualitative Market Research An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/13522750810864431

Purpose – This paper contends that the central question in understanding consumers' experiences is not what is said (lexical analysis) or why (ideological analysis), but how consumers relate these experiences. The purpose is to present a method called discourse analysis (DA) to examine consumers' narratives. This interdisciplinary perspective advantageously complements the lexical, content analytic or semiotic approaches traditionally used in marketing. Design/methodology/approach – In order to show the potential of DA as a method to analyze qualitative data, the paper reports on a research concerning consumers' shopping experiences. Data used stemmed from in‐depth interviews that are analyzed through a critical DA informed by discursive psychology and foucauldian approaches. Findings – DA allows marketers grasping the experiential value of shopping activities by depicting these experiences as ongoing constructions which meaning is constantly reinterpreted. DA also gives access to the various ways informants' manage their identity through narration. Hence, it challenges the simplistic dichotomy between consumers and producers and allows marketers to look at consumers as co‐producers of their lived experience. Given the scope of the study, the obtained results are situated and further researches should be conducted to critically analyze various types of discourses, produced by different actors. This paper shows the potential of DA in analyzing qualitative material. DA could be usefully employed to grasp the thoughts and feelings of the consumers. Rather than solely conducting lexical and/or semiotic analyses, marketers could use DA as a complementary investigation tool. Originality/value – Through DA, this paper suggests new ways for seeking knowledge about the consumers and the market. To this end, it presents DA principles and shows that it is too often neglected by marketers trying to analyze consumers' narratives.

Aurélie Kessous; Elyette Roux

2008 Qualitative Market Research An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/13522750810864440

Purpose – Based on Greimas' contributions in 2002 and on qualitative research, this paper aims to focus on a semiotic analysis of the meaning of nostalgia related to products and brands. Design/methodology/approach – This paper involves a two‐stage interview process. Informants were interviewed first in T1 (July‐August 2005) about products and brands connected to nostalgic feelings. They were re‐interviewed a year after in T2 (June‐July 2006). Pictures of products and brands evoked in T1 were shown and informants where asked what came to mind when they where exposed to such material. Based on the transcription of the interviews, a three‐step content analysis was performed: a first reading of the corpus made it possible to identify the two dimensions of time that structure the informant's discourse: “continuity” and “discontinuity”. Then a lexical analysis of the vocabulary associated with nostalgic experience was computed. Finally, a semiotic analysis of the texts was performed. Findings – The two opposing dimensions of a semiotic square, “continuity” versus “discontinuity” provide a structure for understanding the most important features of nostalgia: “long‐standing nostalgia” (continuity) and “first‐time nostalgia” (discontinuity). This provides a typology of four nostalgic moments: everyday past, uniqueness, tradition and transition which are linked to specific brands and objects. Research limitations/implications – Since this typology is qualitative, it must be confirmed on a larger scale in order to be implemented by managers in the marketing decision‐making process. Originality/value – These four distinct moments enable a researcher to propose a typology of brands, products or objects that when considered in association, can provide a better understanding of emotional attachment.

Stefano Pace

2008 Qualitative Market Research An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/13522750810864459

Purpose – The aim of the paper is to discuss a possible extension of narrative analysis to a new medium of expression of consumer behaviour, specifically YouTube. Design/methodology/approach – Marketing and consumer behaviour studies often apply narrative analysis to understand consumption. The consumer is a source of introspective narratives that are studied by scholars. However, consumption has a narrative nature in itself and consumers are also storytellers. YouTube is a new context in which subjects tell stories to an audience through self‐made videos and re‐edited TV programs. After defining the pros and cons of different approaches to the study of YouTube, narrative analysis is presented as a possible means of understanding YouTube. Findings – Some preliminary evidence is presented by discussing several YouTube videos. These indicate that YouTube content can be better understood as stories, rather than example of other approaches, such as visual analysis, media studies, videography, and others. Research limitations/implications – From the analysis conducted, preliminary managerial implications can be drawn. It seems unlikely that normal TV broadcasters will be substituted by YouTube videos. For the most part, YouTube content draws its sense and shared meaning from the major TV shows and series. The discursive nature of YouTube is also an indication of how to deal with this new medium as a company or researcher. Originality/value – The paper is an attempt to open up new applications of interpretive market research in the form of narrative analysis. It explores a new context that is gaining relevance in both the marketing literature and managerial practice.

René Algesheimer; Călin Gurău

2008 Qualitative Market Research An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/13522750810864468

Purpose – In community research, there is a large gap between theoretical developments and empirical proves. Especially, in micro‐macro contexts, where the interaction between micro‐ (the community member) and macro‐(the community) level variables have significant effects, no comprehensive theoretical approach that explicitly frames micro‐macro phenomena has been considered in empirical methodology. This study attempts to present a multilevel theoretical framework which explains the complex interrelationship of various elements that shape consumption experience and market institutions. Design/methodology/approach – Based on practical questions related to community research, where individuals act in communal contexts, shape the community and are influenced by the community, the importance of studying micro‐macro phenomena are discussed. These preliminaries form assumptions that are integrated into theoretical and methodological developments. It is shown how structuration approaches meet the assumptions on communal consumption research and how multilevel analyses fit into the assumptions that are raised by the structuration approach. Findings – The paper develops and presents a multilevel model, which represents the interplay among various cultural levels that influence consumption experience and the evolution of consumption trends. This model proposes a theoretical framework which explains structuration in consumer research contexts. Originality/value – Academics can use this study to understand the link between communal consumption theory to methodology. They have access to a research framework that integrates micro‐macro effects and receive some ideas on possible structures and variables they can analyze. Practitioners learn that within communal research consumption patterns do not only influence individuals, but they also determine the community's structure that in turn shapes the behaviour of its members.