Marketing Research 1. Not measurements, but WORDS! Seeking rich data, nuances ◦ Avoids reductionism, generalizations ◦ Instead of asking how many.

Marketing Research 1

Not measurements, but WORDS!

Seeking rich data, nuances

◦ Avoids reductionism, generalizations

◦ Instead of asking how many times someone

purchased an item, you ask "WHY...?"

◦ Typically the samples are small, and not

"random"

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Group Interviews

◦ Focus Groups

Individual Interviews

◦ Experience Surveys

◦ Depth Interviews Structured or non-structured

◦ Protocol Analysis

◦ Projective Techniques

Case Studies

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Advantages◦ Greater depth◦ People's own words◦ Immediate feedback◦ Insights can come from participants

Limitations◦ Lots of data◦ Hard to "code"◦ Not enough people to generalize◦ Idiosyncracies of a few people may mislead

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Method:

◦ Moderated discussion group

◦ 6 to 12 participants

◦ Approx. 90 minutes

Goals:

◦ to understand what people have to say, get

people to talk in detail, develop a synergistic

discussion

Focus Groups

A loosely structured interview conducted by a trained moderator among a small number of informants.

Select a relatively homogenous

◦ Hold several to hear from different groups

Develop protocol in advance

◦ Consider length, progression, probes, coverage, and wording

Assure comfort, appropriate location

Offer refreshments, compensation

Determine method of record keeping

◦ Agreed to by participants

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Transcription◦ Word for word transcription (best approach)

All that was said Significant facial expressions, gestures Long pauses, silences

◦ Summary (when resources/time is limited) Must listen/view group several times for appropriate emphasis May summarize some portions, transcribe others word for word

Code findings◦ Look for “themes” or topics that emerge. ◦ Apply a code each time the identified topics come up.

Develop conclusions

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Buick division of General Motors used focus groups to help Buick division of General Motors used focus groups to help develop the Regal. Buick held 20 focus groups across the develop the Regal. Buick held 20 focus groups across the country to determine what features customers wanted in a country to determine what features customers wanted in a car. The focus groups told GM they wanted a stylish car, car. The focus groups told GM they wanted a stylish car, legitimate back seat, at least 20 miles per gallon, and 0 to 60 legitimate back seat, at least 20 miles per gallon, and 0 to 60 miles per hour acceleration in 11 seconds or less.miles per hour acceleration in 11 seconds or less.

Use of Focus GroupsUse of Focus Groups

Y K 7 4 9

V O

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Based on the results, Buick engineers created clay models of the car and mock-ups of the interior. These were shown to other focus groups. The respondents did not like the oversized bumpers and the severe slope of the hood, but liked the four-disc brakes and independent suspension.

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Focus groups also helped refine the advertising campaign for the Regal. Participants were asked which competing cars most resembled Buick in image and features. The answer was Oldsmobile, a sister GM division. In an effort to differentiate the two, Buick was repositioned above Oldsmobile by focusing on comfort and luxury features.

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The tag line for the 1998 Regal, “official car of the Supercharged family,” was based on focus group findings.

Rests on reflective thinking

Not representative or generalizable

Subjective interpretations

High cost per participant

Potential demand effects

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Depth Interviews

one-on-one interview

Unstructured, semi-structured, or structured

Protocol Analysis

Verbalization of decision process

Projective Techniques

For penetrating a person’s defense mechanisms

Intent: To gathering more revealing information

Encourages respondents to project their feelings

◦ to another person

◦ or to another situation

Facilitate deeper examination of feelings and motives

To overcome embarrassment, shyness, and minimize deception

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1. Thoughts have emotional and subconscious content.

2. The emotional and subconscious content is important in buying and usage decisions.

3. This content is not well verbalized by the respondent through direct communication.

4. This content is better verbalized through indirect techniques.

Word Association

Sentence Completion

Thematic apperception: Elicits perceived themes.

◦ Explain picture

◦ Picture frustration: Cartoon/balloon Test

◦ Construction techniques: draw pictures, make collages, write stories, etc.

Role-playing Activity

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Also called Thematic Apperception Test (TAT).

Subject writes a story describing picture (20 min).

May report verbally instead.

What’s happening?

Why?

What are the person’s feelings?

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Role-Playing Cartoon TestRole-Playing Cartoon Test

SearsSears

?

Let’s see if we can pick up

some housewares at

Sears

Assess experience in situation

Provides rich data

◦ Can observe all variables in play

Idiosyncracies of their situation may

mislead

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