ADV 281 Research Methods Test #3Chapter 5-9 & Lecture Slides3/4/14Qualitative (advertising) research- Definitiono Quantitative advertising research entails the intensive interviewing of a small number of individuals to acquire detailed, in-depth insights into their attitudes, beliefs, motivations and lifestyles.- Goalo Qualitative research seeks to provide a better understand of why people act as they do rather than numeric descriptions of what people do and think- Useso To move beyond information obtained through direct, structured, open-ended questionso To obtain information in areas where little is currently knowno To hear consumers express ideas in their own wordso To compliment quantitative research- Pros o Quickero Less costlyo More flexible- Conso Allows limited generalizationo Does not permit numeric descriptionso Interpretation is more subjectiveThinking too much (Wilson & Schooler, 1991)- Ps instructed taste strawberry jams and evaluate them- Five jams had been rated by Consumer Reports’ expert tasters ranked 1, 11, 24, 32, 44 by experts- Half randomly assigned to analyze why you feel the way you do about each; half just ate the jams after tasting- No reasons correlate with experts = 0.55- Reasons correlate with experts = 0.11- Thinking (or analyzing) reasons might change people’s minds about how they felt- Certain aspects of the jams were not central to their initial evaluations were weighted more heavily (e.g., their chunkiness or tartness)Unconscious influences on behavior Bargh, Chen & Burrows (1996)- Participants engaged in sentence unscrambling task—three different conditions- Conditionso Aggressively, bold, rude, bother, disturb...(e.g., they her bother see usually)o Respect, honor, considerate, appreciate…(e.g., they her respect see usually)o Exercising, flawlessly, occasionally, rapidly, gleefully…(e.g., they her )- Priming refers to the incidental activation of knowledge structures, such as trait concepts and stereotypes, by current situational context- Participants whose concept of rudeness was primed interrupted the experimenter more quickly and frequently than did participants primed with polite-related stimuli)- In many cases, one’s own thought and behavior are not under one’s own intentional control.Bottom line of these studies- People are not (always) able to accurately report their cognitive processeso “How did you come to that decision?”o “Why do you believe this?”o “Why do you prefer brand x?”- Asking them to do so is likely to provide answers that sounds reasonable, but are probably inaccurate- Keep in mind when conducting qualitative research. (e.g., interviews)Personal interview- 30 to 60 minutes- Free-flowing, yet structured conversation- Interviewer flexibility to:o Pursue topics in different ways with different respondentso Create new questionso Probe interesting or unexpected responses- Appropriate for situations in which extensive, detailed probing is required- Eliminates potential for group pressure to alter or discourage honesty in answerFocus group interview- 90-120 minutes- FGs are larger (8-12 vs. 3-6)- Used for:o New product idea generationo Product positioningo Product perceptionso Creative explorationso In-depth exploration of consumer attitudes, beliefs and behaviors3/6/14Personal Interview- Conducted on a single respondent- Small sample (N=5-15)- Used when:o Extensive information is neededo Topic is confidential, emotional, embarrassingo Presence of others will discourage honestyPreparing for the Individual Interview- Problem statemento Define informational needso “What do I want to learn?”- Determine questioning techniqueso What techniques are most likely to elicit information that addresses the client’s needs- Create interview guideQuestioning Techniques- Direct and factual- Structural- Grand tour- Idealization- Contrast - Hypothetical interaction- Third-personQuestioning techniques: Direct and Factual- Explicit requests for specific informationo Provide background informationo Lay the foundation for more extensive discussion- Examples:o How many hours per week do you spend watching football?o When did you switch to your current brand of shampoo?Questioning techniques: Structural Questions- Understanding how someone had organized their beliefs about a particular area- Exampleso What terms do you use when describing your car to your friends?o What different reasons would you give for trying a new energy drink?Questioning techniques: Grand Tour Questions- Recreate the steps that took place at a particular time- Move beyond direct/factual/structural questions- Demonstrate interest in the respondent- Allow respondent to describe expertise and experience- Examples:o Describe the events that led up to the last time you purchased a car?o Tell me how you felt during the last time you tried on a new pair of jeansQuestioning techniques: Idealization questions- Ask respondents to speculate or describe the ideal product or type of advertising- Allows the researcher to draw links between a specific product and the ideal- Exampleso “How would you describe the ideal digital music player?”o “Here are some possible features of the ideal digital music player:” High memory  Lightweight/compact Easy to navigateo “How do these features compare with those that you would find in your ideal player?”Questioning techniques: Contrast questions- Help uncover attitudes and perceptions by contrasting one item to another- Allows respondents to describe the opposite item- Examples:o “How would you describe the difference between Windows and Macintosh operating systems?”o “Describe the opposite of Guess? Jeans.” Questioning techniques: Hypothetical Interaction- Presents a situation and asks the respondent how s/he would respondo Draws on respondent’s imaginationo Elicits underlying beliefs and attitudes- Example:o “Imagine that Steve Jobs shows up at your door to learn about ways in which you interact with your iPhone?” What do you think? What would you tell him?Questioning techniques: Third-person Questions- Presents respondent with a non-threatening challenge from an anonymous groupo It lets respondents evaluate a different viewpoint- Examples:o “You said previously that price is the most important factor in choosing and energy drink. Other expel that I’ve talked to have said the same thing. Some people, however, said that they don’t care how much the drink…Questioning