The remainder of the lectures for this class will focus on specific research tools. There are various ways to categories these tools. Some authors group these tools under three broad types of research designs: exploratory research, descriptive research or causal research.

A research design is a framework or blueprint for conducting the marketing research project. It specifies the details of the procedures necessary for obtaining the information needed to structure or solve the marketing research problem.

Definition of exploratory research. Exploratory research has as its primary objective the development of insights into the problem.

Definition of descriptive research. Descriptive research has as its major objective the description of something like market characteristics. You are most familiar with this type of research since surveys fall under descriptive research.

Definition of causal research. Causal research is an attempt to identify a cause and effect relationship. An experiment is an example of causal research.

A categorization system that you might hear is that one type of technique is a qualitative research method vs. a quantitative research technique. We'll use the qualitative vs. quantitative distinction for now.

See Table 4.1 for a discussion of the differences between qualitative versus quantitative research.

This lecture will deal with qualitative research tools (or exploratory research designs), with the bulk of the lecture devoted to focus groups because of their overwhelming popularity with marketing researchers.

Although I will devote most of the lecture to focus groups I want to briefly mention a number of other types of qualitative methods.

Figure 4.1 provides a classification of various types of qualitative research procedures.

Various types of qualitative research techniques

The Depth Interview is an unstructured, direct, personal interview in which a single respondent is probed by a highly skilled interviewer to uncover underlying motivations, beliefs, attitudes, and feelings on a topic. One popular form of depth interview focuses on uncovering consumers' means-ends chains or laddering. In laddering, the line of questioning proceeds from product characteristics to user characteristics. This technique allows the researcher to tap into the consumer's network of meanings.

The basic approach assumes (A) product attributes (means) related to consequences, which in turn relate to (V) basic values (ends). An example might be a blow dryer dries hair--an attribute (A) that leads to looking better (C), which leads to popularity (C), which leads to self-esteem (V). Means ends chains are also sometimes referred to as A-C-V chains.

The methods for developing these ladders center on a one-on-one interview in which the interviewer continually probes with questions such as "Why is that important?" There are several ways to structure an interview to uncover differences among products:

1. Triadic comparisons. Basically, this consists of giving respondents three products and asking them to say why two differ from the third. For example, given three beers--Bud Light, Beck's and Sam Adams--a respondent might group Beck's and Sam Adams together and say they were higher (a) in alcohol, (b) status, or (c) flavor.

 
2. Preference ratings. This involves getting respondents to rank alternatives and then asking them why one brand is most preferred or why one brand is preferred to another.

 
3. Different uses. Focusing on different usage occasions helps generate more distinctions. Returning to the beer example, this could include asking which beer is preferred after a workout, at a social function, with dinner, etc.

Association techniques are a type of projective technique in which the respondents are presented with a stimulus and asked to respond with the first thing that comes to mind. We're all probably familiar with the idea of a word association test. In a word association test the respondents are presented with a list of words one at a time. After each word, they are asked to give the first word that comes to mind. A word association task is a very indirect measure and it is difficult for the respondent to guess the purpose of the study.

In the completion technique a respondent is required to complete an incomplete situation stimulus, for example a sentence or story completion task. In a sentence completion task the respondents are given incomplete sentences and asked to complete them. For example in the context of a store patronage study the respondents might be given the following sentence completion task (see Table 4.2).

A person who receives a gift certificate good for Saks Fifth Avenue would be_________________________.

J.C. Penney is most liked by ____________________________________.

When I think of shopping in a department store, I __________________________.
 

The story completion technique requires respondents to finish a story that is supplied to them. This technique has something of an advantage over simple word association because the researcher can provide a more directed stimulus. The down side is that the respondent may be able to infer the purpose of the study. See Table 4.3 for a sample story completion. The way the respondent completes the story will reveal the relative value that he places on the time spent selecting merchandise and the emotional investment he makes in the act of shopping.

A man was shopping for a business suit in his favorite department store. After spending 45 minutes trying on several suits, he finally picked one he liked. As he was proceeding to the checkout counter, he was approached by the salesclerk, who said, "Sir, at this time we have higher-quality suits on sale for the same price. Would you like to see them?" What is the customer's response? Why?

In the Construction technique the respondents are required to construct a response to a stimulus in the form of a story dialogue or a description. One example of a construction task is the cartoon test where respondents are shown cartoon characters and asked to indicate the dialogue that occurs between the characters in the cartoon.

Expressive techniques require respondents to relate the feelings and attitudes of others to the situation presented. Role playing is one example of an expressive technique.

Focus Groups

Focus groups are the most common type of qualitative research conducted by marketing researchers.

In summary a focus group is a carefully planned discussion designed to obtain perceptions on a defined area of interest in a permissive, nonthreatening environment. It is conducted with approximately 7 to 10 people by a skilled interviewer. The discussion is comfortable and often enjoyable for participants as they share their ideas and perceptions. Group members influence each other by responding to ideas and comments in the discussion. (Krueger, 1994, p.7)
 

Group composition Homogeneous; respondents prescreened

Physical setting Relaxed, informal atmosphere

Time duration 1 -3 hours

Recording Use of audiocassettes and videotapes

Moderator Keen observational, interpersonal and communication skills of moderator
 

Typically, focus group interviews are the first step in the research process. They provide qualitative, descriptive information to the firm. See The Planning Worksheet for more details of the process.

The Discussion Guide and Screener

Discussion Guide

The discussion guide acts as a tacit contract between the moderator and client in that if the topics specified in the guide are covered in the focus group that the expectations will be met. (Of course, the quality of the final report is critical to the overall perception of quality.)

Some moderators/clients use a skeleton outline, while others favor development of a full narrative, which is later reduced to a script of sequential questions.

Screener

One of the most popular methods used by commercial market research firms for identifying focus group participants is random telephone screening. First, a random selection of names is drawn from a telephone directory. Prior to selection of the names, the firm and the client agree on the desirable characteristics of the participants. A series of screening questions are devised to identify the appropriate individuals. For example, if the study is to identify health practices of middle aged men, screening questions might involve age, socioeconomic background, education, and race.

As the number of screens required increases the efficiency of the entire procedure decreases (and the process becomes more expensive!).
 

1. Piggyback focus groups: using participant already assembled for some other purpose as prospective focus group participants.
2. Intercepts: Similar to mall intercepts. Requesting participation of some observed individuals at a central location, such as a mall, recreation facility, zoo, etc.
3. Nominations: Soliciting names from the client organization.
4. Snowball samples: Asking current participants for names of prospective participants. Based o the idea of "birds of a feather flock together."

1. Specifically define the characteristics of people who will be included in the groups.
2. If you are conducting an industrial focus group, develop screen questions that probe into all aspects of the respondent's job functions. Do not depend on title or other ambiguous definitions of job responsibilities.
3. If you are conducting an industrial focus group, provide the research company with names of specific companies and employees, when possible. If specific categories of companies are needed, a list of qualified companies is critical.

4. Ask multiple questions about a single variable to validate the accuracy of answers. Therefore, if you want to recruit computer users, do not simply ask for the brand and model of personal computers they use. In addition, ask them to describe the machine and its function; this will ensure that they are referring to the appropriate equipment.

5. Require the recruiters to provide completed screener questionnaires at the end of each day. Check them carefully to ensure that appropriate people were recruited from appropriate companies. When in doubt, make a follow up call to confirm the participant.

6. Do not accept respondents who have participated in a focus group during the previous year.

7. Have each participant arrive 15 minutes early to complete a prediscussion questionnaire. This will provide additional background information on each respondent, will reconfirm their suitability for the discussion, and will help the company collect factual information.

1. Number of distinct market segments represented in the firm's target market.
2. Geographical scope of the firm's market area.
3. Importance of management's decision resulting from the research.
4. Number of potential participants in a given geographical market area.
5. Number of new ideas generated by each successive group: additional focus groups should be conducted until the moderator can anticipate what is going to be said.

1. Relatively low cost: A one group study costs approximately $3,000-4,000.
2. Ability to probe: Can assist in identifying common language of population.
3. Availability of speedy results: This advantage is somewhat mitigated by overnight polling operations.
4. Synergy of participants can lead to unexpected results.

1. Moderator has less control than in individual interview
2. Group dynamic can make the results tricky to evaluate. Each group is different and interaction of these individuals will influence discussion. Moderator must be extremely skilled in moderating (encouraging, limiting) discussion.
3. Logistical problems of assembling a group of appropriate individuals in an acceptable facility can present difficulties for the contractor.
4. Results can not be projected to a wider population at large. NOT A SUBSTITUE FOR QUANTITATIVE STUDY.

Validity is the degree to which the procedure really measures what it proposes to measure. Face validity refers to whether the results look valid. Are the findings reasonable? Most researchers would agree that by themselves, focus groups do not have predictive validity--You can't accurately predict the future behavior of the population on the basis of focus groups. For predictive validity quantitative measures are preferable: you can know with some prespecified level of certainty what percent of the population will act/feel/purchase in the same manner as the sample you studied.
 

Identifying potential contractors  

When making the initial contact with prospective market research firms consider asking the following questions:

2. What experience have they had with focus groups?
3. Do they specialize in certain product areas?
4. Who on the staff conducts and analyzes focus groups?
5. How long have they been in business?
6. Will they provide a list of past clients?
7. Are they willing to prepare a formal proposal, describing their procedures, timeline and costs?

There are two types of reports available: Toplines and Full Reports.

Toplines

These reports are much shorter, less detailed, cheaper and faster. They include few, if any verbatims from the participants and the reader is much more dependent upon the researcher's interpretation of the output of the focus group, since by its brevity, a topline does not include the rationale for particular findings and does not include a transcript of the proceedings of the focus groups.

Full Report

Listed below are the content of a full report:

1. Table of Contents
2. A concise statement of the problem (Background and Purpose)
3. A methods and procedures section (which includes the major question areas and the discussion protocol).
4. The Findings

1. Interactive climate: Brief sketches of those facets of the group activity which bear on the interpretation of reaction.
2. Predisposition: Inferences about how the panel members generally, or specific respondent types, orient themselves to the product category (The Predisposition section may be broken down into special pre-disposing factors like "Reactions to advertising," "Brand awareness," and so on).
3. Reactions to materials: Responses of panelists - in table or narrative forms to marketing, advertising or product samples exposed to the group.
4. Summary of findings. A synthesis of the findings.

Krueger, .R.A. (1994). Focus groups: a practical guide for applied research. London: Sage Publications.

Well written, organized discussion of the mechanics of conducting focus groups. Has a number of helpful worksheets and appendices. The orientation is less on the use of focus groups for marketing research ad more geared to use of focus groups for both community and education uses.
 

Reynolds, Thomas J., and Jonathan Gutman (1988) "Laddering theory, method, analysis, and interpretation, " Journal of Advertising Research, 28, February-March, 11-31.
 

Templeton, J.F. (1994). Focus groups: A strategic guide to organizing, conducting and analyzing the focus group interview. Chicago, Ill: Probus Publishing Company.
 

Contains all the mechanics of how to conduct focus groups, as well as various cautionary tales, but organization of the text is somewhat disjointed. The author's examples and experience are primary marketing/advertising and so is very appropriate for this class.