This document discusses qualitative marketing research methods. It begins by covering exploratory research design and then describes various qualitative research techniques in detail. These include focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, and projective techniques such as association techniques, completion techniques, construction techniques, and expressive techniques. For each technique, examples are provided of how they are conducted and the types of information they can provide for market research. The document aims to explain how qualitative methods can help understand consumers, generate new ideas, and interpret quantitative results.

1. Marketing Management –II (MK102)
Session 4

2. Previous Session: Marketing Research Process
Source: Malhotra and Dash (6e)
Conclusive/Confirmatory
Exploratory
Research Design
Descriptive Causal
1. Pilot Surveys
2. Qualitative Research
Direct: FGDs & In-
Depth Interviews
Indirect: Projective
techniques
3. Secondary data
(Qualitative)
3. Case Study Analysis
1. Secondary data
(Quantitative)
2. Surveys
3. Observations
1. Experiments

3. Research Design: Classification
Conclusive/Confirmatory
Exploratory
Research Design
Descriptive Causal
1. Pilot Surveys
2. Qualitative Research
Direct: FGDs & In-
Depth Interviews
Indirect: Projective
techniques
3. Secondary data
(Qualitative)
3. Case Study Analysis
1. Secondary data
(Quantitative)
2. Surveys
3. Observations
1. Experiments

4. Qualitative Research
 Qualitative research helps you go beyond the surface
 Qualitative research provides initial understanding that can be utilized for further research
 Qualitative research can also explain findings of quantitative research

5. When to use Qualitative Research
Not always possible or desirable to use fully structured/ formal methods
1. Unwillingness to share information
2. Inability to provide accurate answers
Kids won’t be
able to answer
quantitative
questionnaires
Bought an
expensive car to
overcome the
feeling of
inferiority
(subconscious)

6. 1. Focused Group Discussion (FGDs)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TwgVQIZPsw
Applications:
o Understand consumers’ preferences, perceptions & behavior towards products category
o Generate new ideas and develop creative concepts and copy material for ads
o Obtain consumers’ reaction to new product concepts or specific marketing programs
o Obtain information to structure consumer questionnaires
o Generate hypotheses & interpret quantitative results

7. Characteristics of FGDs
An interview conducted by a trained moderator among a small group of respondents in an
unstructured and natural manner

8. Role of Moderator
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjHZsEcSqwo&t=1s

9. Procedure for planning and conducting FGD
Source: Malhotra and Dash (6e)

10. 2. In-depth Interviews
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
Applications:
o Sensory product consumption experiences (perfumes)
o Confidential, sensitive, or embarrassing topics (personal finance)
o Interviews with professional people and competitors
o Situations where strong social norms exist (attitude of college students toward sports)
o Detailed probing of the respondent (automobile purchase)
Applications:
o Sensory product consumption experiences (perfumes)
o Confidential, sensitive, or embarrassing topics (personal finance)
o Interviews with professional people and competitors
o Situations where strong social norms exist (attitude of college students toward sports)
o Detailed probing of the respondent (automobile purchase)

11. Laddering
Product  User
Hidden issue questioning
Personal sore spots related to
deeply felt personal concerns
Symbolic analysis
Symbolic meaning analyzed by
comparing with opposites
Wide body aircrafts
(product characteristic)
↓
Get more work done
↓
Accomplish more
↓
Feel good about myself
(user characteristic)
Ad: “You're The Boss”
Fantasies, work lives, and
social lives
↓
historic, elite, “masculine-
camaraderie,” competitive
activities
Ad: Aggressiveness, high
status, & competitive
heritage of airline
What would it be like if you
could no longer use airplanes?
↓
Without planes, have to rely on
emails, letters & long-distance
calls
 Airlines sell face-face to
communication to managers
Ad: Airlines do the same thing
for managers as Federal
Express does for a package.

12. 3. Projective Technique
 An unstructured, indirect form of questioning that encourages respondents to
project their underlying motivations, beliefs, attitudes, or feelings regarding
issues of concern
 Should be used when information cannot be accurately obtained by direct
methods
1. Association Techniques
2. Completion techniques
3. Construction techniques
4. Expressive techniques

13. 1. Association Techniques: word association
Presented with a stimulus and asked to respond with the first thing that comes to mind
Example: Consumers’ perceptions for juices in general & scope for sugarcane juice in particular

14. 2. Completion Techniques
Asked to complete an incomplete stimulus situation (sentence or paragraph or story)

15. 3. Construction Techniques
Respondent asked to construct a response in the form of a story, dialogue, or description
Cartoon tests
o Cartoon characters are shown in a specific
situation related to problem
o Respondents asked to indicate what one cartoon
character might say in response to another
character
Picture response:
o Respondents asked to describe a series of pictures of ordinary as well as unusual events.
o Respondent's interpretation of pictures gives indications of their personality

16. 4. Expressive Technique
Respondents are presented with a verbal or visual situation and asked to relate the feelings and
attitudes of other people to the situation.
Role Playing: Respondents are asked to play the role or assume the behavior of someone else
Third Person Technique: Respondents are asked to assume themselves as third person (neighbor/
colleague) and answer play the role or assume the behavior of someone else
Example
Why some people don’t fly?
o “Are you afraid to fly?”: Did not elicit the true response.
o “Do you think your neighbor is afraid to fly?” : Lowered respondent’s defenses & truthful answers

17. Research Design: Classification
Conclusive/Confirmatory
Exploratory
Research Design
Descriptive Causal
1. Pilot Surveys
2. Qualitative Research
Direct: FGDs & In-
Depth Interviews
Indirect: Projective
techniques
3. Secondary data
(Qualitative)
3. Case Study Analysis
1. Secondary data
(Quantitative)
2. Surveys
3. Observations
1. Experiments

18. Next Class
Case on “Fruitzone India Limited (B
&C)_Designing the Research
Questions”