Do you find yourself having to defend the decision to conduct qualitative research? Looking back over the almost 25 years I've been in marketing, I'm struck by how often the insights that
drove true competitive advantage came from qualitative, rather than quantitative, research.
Some marketers believe that qualitative methods are somehow inferior to more "rigorous"
quantitative methods. But in fact, for a wide range of problems, qualitative methods are vastly superior to quantitative methods for consistently delivering deeper and more
actionable insights into brands and behavior.
Dollar for dollar, qualitative research is more likely to produce rich insights that lead to breakthrough marketing and creative
ideas.
Why is that? Here are five features that make qualitative superior to quantitative approaches:
- Qualitative research lets decision makers intimately
participate in the research process. Watching consumers talk about their brand or their ads in real time is an important a stimulus to thinking and decision making. Marketers come to
understand the emotional response to a creative idea and can use the opportunity to make collective decisions in real time.
- The dynamic nature of group interviews engages
respondents more actively than is ever possible in a more structured survey. Even open-ended survey questions often generate merely perfunctory responses. But qualitative allows probing that
dismantles rationalizations and reaches beyond initial responses.
- The synergy created in group interviews allows respondents to build on each other's thoughts and
ideas. In good qualitative research, respondents get caught up in the conversation and want to work harder at solving the problem before them. A good interviewer can create an atmosphere in
which self-revelation is the norm, so respondents reveal more of themselves.
- Qualitative research uses projective techniques that overcome the self-consciousness that
inhibits spontaneous reactions and comments. These open-ended exercises use metaphor and storytelling to get at consumers' deeper reality.
- Only qualitative
research offers the opportunity to observe and interpret non-verbal responses. In group interviews, this adds another dimension to consumer understanding. In ethnography, systematic
observation of behavior in homes, offices, cars, and stores, is the whole point of the exercise. Qualitative research reveals how product and services are really used, how customer interact
with a product or a retail environment, and other aspects of behavior that quantitative research can't access.
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The reality of consumer research is that people have feelings,
attitudes, and values they may be reluctant to reveal, may have difficulty communicating, or may not even be consciously aware of. Qualitative consistently yields greater dividends because it is
open-ended and dynamic, harnesses consumer creativity, and penetrates rationalized or superficial responses.
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Paula, group influences can be mitigated (by having respondents commit themselves privately before expressing themselves publicly) or eliminated (by conducting individual, as well as group, interviews). Sometimes they are the whole point of the investigation (for example, when convening groups of peers or close friends).
Actually, both qual and quant are required to mitigate the short comings in either methodology. I have found the usage of one over the other, particularly the use of qual only, leads clients to narrow conclusions, ultimately not serving the needs of the brand.
We need to search for new methodologies for both qual and quant to build stronger brands for our clients and consumers. Especially in this rapidly changing consumer marketplace.
Hart,
Everybody lies. From out right to ommission and you know that. You can't pay them enough. And they lie more with those they know than with those they don't. You need to spend more time with (and being one) service people.
Paula, not everyone lies. In fact, if you win their trust, most don't lie because they want to help you find the answer. Of course, everyone wants to look good to others, and you have to factor that in to some extent. And most can't tell you want motivates them. But if you give them time and some techniques to help them self-reflect, it's amazing what people can figure out about themselves. Really.
Everybody lies. Really. Everybody lies. And just because a person may say something they think they believe is real, doesn't mean it is true. Everybody lies.
Paula, that's a tad cynical, don't you think?
Cynical? OK, but true. Everybody lies at some time.