The fundamental aim of qualitative research is to understand the relevant aspects and isolate them from circumstantial factors; this is why its purpose has been radically modified. From now on, the aim is to provide the client with information on what is significant, on aspects which mean something to him and which are linked to his communication.
The Europe marketing concept suffers greatly from two opposing attitudes : total amnesia regarding European history in favour of data completely deprived of context, and the claim that diverse histories and cultures are a radical obstacle to the building of Europe. In fact, a simple comparison with the United States shows that linguistic, religious, historical, cultural, racial, geographical and climatic obstacles can be avoided if the nation concerned stems from a universally-rooted popular plan. However, Europe is not a popular project. It is an idea forged by a cultural and economic elite which has no real substance for the average citizen. Furthermore, for the more powerful nations. Europe still has to compete with other extra-European interests, a phenomenon less apparent and of lesser concern to the other nations. Europe must therefore shift from its present mentality of economic utopia to its real sociocultural identity. This sociocultural reality is often difficult to observe and manage for the marketing world which opts for either global, reducing attitudes, atomising or even hegemonic ones, fed by specialists on foreign countries. One of the obstacles to our understanding of Europe stems form the typologies and grids which were actually created to describe Europeans. In spite of their fascination and use they have never been more than an amnesic projection of one culture onto another. The real marketing future in Europe must be built by drawing from the diversity and wealth of real cultures, by learning to understand them and by sticking to similar concepts and messages. This task may be trickier and more In this context the "European via de vivre" may well recreate new divides and bring out new barriers hidden by two centuries of nationalism. But this transformation is also a chance to see the European map redrawn to represent, at last, something for one and all within, and for those outside Europe.
The Europe marketing concept suffers greatly from two opposing attitudes : total amnesia regarding European history in favour of data completely deprived of context, and the claim that diverse histories and cultures are a radical obstacle to the building of Europe. In fact, a simple comparison with the United States shows that linguistic, religious, historical, cultural, racial, geographical and climatic obstacles can be avoided if the nation concerned stems from a universally-rooted popular plan. However, Europe is not a popular project. It is an idea forged by a cultural and economic elite which has no real substance for the average citizen. Furthermore, for the more powerful nations. Europe still has to compete with other extra-European interests, a phenomenon less apparent and of lesser concern to the other nations. Europe must therefore shift from its present mentality of economic utopia to its real sociocultural identity. This sociocultural reality is often difficult to observe and manage for the marketing world which opts for either global, reducing attitudes, atomising or even hegemonic ones, fed by specialists on foreign countries. One of the obstacles to our understanding of Europe stems form the typologies and grids which were actually created to describe Europeans. In spite of their fascination and use they have never been more than an amnesic projection of one culture onto another. The real marketing future in Europe must be built by drawing from the diversity and wealth of real cultures, by learning to understand them and by sticking to similar concepts and messages. This task may be trickier and more In this context the "European via de vivre" may well recreate new divides and bring out new barriers hidden by two centuries of nationalism. But this transformation is also a chance to see the European map redrawn to represent, at last, something for one and all within, and for those outside Europe.
The applications of computer language analysis in studies originated when micro-computing, linguistics and marketing came together. Since the principal element available for studies is language itself, analysts have concentrated upon creating methods and tools which enable them to analyse it. A word's meaning depends upon the context of the other words which surround it; lexicologists have created tools which make the best use of this environment and have applied this to market research. In this way, it has been possible to create new computer programmes which bear little resemblance to software available on the market (word-processing, data bases, translating machines). It was only when users began to have easy access to computers that they concentrated upon the full development of language analysis. It finds its legitimacy not by trying to replace other methods of analysis, but by working alongside them with the aim of obtaining clearer results and responding to the increasing demands of advertisers who want to know, to the exact word, the positioning of their product, the image of their brand or the specificity of their target. The development of computer language analysis is highly dynamic, and one is often surprised to discover how many people are actually working on it.
The applications of computer language analysis in studies originated when micro-computing, linguistics and marketing came together. Since the principal element available for studies is language itself, analysts have concentrated upon creating methods and tools which enable them to analyse it. A word's meaning depends upon the context of the other words which surround it; lexicologists have created tools which make the best use of this environment and have applied this to market research. In this way, it has been possible to create new computer programmes which bear little resemblance to software available on the market (word-processing, data bases, translating machines). It was only when users began to have easy access to computers that they concentrated upon the full development of language analysis. It finds its legitimacy not by trying to replace other methods of analysis, but by working alongside them with the aim of obtaining clearer results and responding to the increasing demands of advertisers who want to know, to the exact word, the positioning of their product, the image of their brand or the specificity of their target. The development of computer language analysis is highly dynamic, and one is often surprised to discover how many people are actually working on it.
The world economic crisis has had fundamental repercussions on marketing and qualitative studies. The need for exactitude and the increased culture of economic actors have resulted, to a certain extent, in the breakdown of the barrier which existed between universities and marketing. We have seen the arrival of micro-computing and at the same time, the changing of conceptions from dynamic to cybernetic notions; all of this has led researchers to consider communication as being made up of the message which has been transmitted and of its feedback (and no longer as the exchanges of measurable influxes at the receiver level).
The world economic crisis has had fundamental repercussions on marketing and qualitative studies. The need for exactitude and the increased culture of economic actors have resulted, to a certain extent, in the breakdown of the barrier which existed between universities and marketing. We have seen the arrival of micro-computing and at the same time, the changing of conceptions from dynamic to cybernetic notions ; all of this has led researchers to consider communication as being made up of the message which has been transmitted and of its feedback (and no longer as the ex- changes of measurable influxes at the receiver level)
The world economic crisis has had fundamental repercussions on marketing and qualitative studies. The need for exactitude and the increased culture of economic actors have resulted, to a certain extent, in the breakdown of the barrier which existed between universities and marketing. We have seen the arrival of micro-computing and at the same time, the changing of conceptions from dynamic to cybernetic notions; all of this has led researchers to consider communication as being made up of the message which has been transmitted and of its feedback (and no longer as the exchanges of measurable influxes at the receiver level).