Perreault−McCarthy: Basic
Marketing: A
Global−Managerial
Approach, 14/e- Improving Decisions
with Marketing
Information
Text © The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2002230 Chapter 8
Qualitative researchseeks in-depth, open-ended responses, not yes or no answers.
The researcher tries to get people to share their thoughts on a topic—without giving
them many directions or guidelines about what to say.
A researcher might ask different consumers, “What do you think about when you
decide where to shop for food?” One person may talk about convenient location,
another about service, and others about the quality of the fresh produce. The real
advantage of this approach is depth.Each person can be asked follow-up questions
so the researcher really understands what thatrespondent is thinking. The depth of
the qualitative approach gets at the details—even if the researcher needs a lot of
judgment to summarize it all.
Some types of qualitative research don’t use specific questions. For example, a
consumer might simply be shown a product or an ad and be asked to comment.Focus groups stimulate discussion
The most widely used form of qualitative questioning in marketing research is
the focus group interview,which involves interviewing 6 to 10 people in an infor-
mal group setting. The focus group also uses open-ended questions, but here the
interviewer wants to get group interaction—to stimulate thinking and get immedi-
ate reactions.
A skilled focus group leader can learn a lot from this approach. A typical session
may last an hour, so participants can cover a lot of ground. Sessions are often
videotaped (or broadcast over the Internet or by satellite) so different managers can
form their own impressions of what happened. Some research firms create electronic
focus groups in which participants log onto a specified website and with others par-
ticipate in a chat session; each person types in comments that are shared on the
computer screen of each of the other participants. What they type is the record of
the session.^11
Regardless of how a focus group is conducted, conclusions reached from a ses-
sion usually vary depending on who watches it. A typical problem—and serious
limitation—with qualitative research is that it’s hard to measure the results
objectively. The results seem to depend so much on the viewpoint of the researcher.
In addition, people willing to participate in a focus group—especially those who talk
the most—may not be representative of the broader target market.
Focus groups can be conducted quickly and at relatively low cost—an average of
about $3,500 each. This is part of their appeal. But focus groups are probably being
overused. It’s easy to fall into the trap of treating an idea arising from a focus groupQualitative
questioning—open-
ended with a hidden
purpose
When John Deere does focus
group research for its bulldozer
line, customers have a chance to
see and discuss what’s different
about Deere’s product.