In the present paper, we will attempt to achieve such a synthesis: having first redefined our interface with the academic and economic environments respectively, we will then indicate a number of possible future directions some concepts worth examining and some attitudes to be preferred.
Cultural intelligence as a basic capability of transnational business is a significant competitive advantage. It allows decision-makers to go the first step beyond 'hard' quantitative techniques and linear conclusions to the consideration of 'soft' intangibles that lead the way toward the mastery of the art of global strategy, negotiation and marketing.
Public Relations (PR), since their humble beginnings as "flak", have evolved into a major and very specific discipline in communications, requiring specific research techniques. The paper shows how qualitative research methodologies adapted from marketing research are being increasingly used in this field, because they match some of the specific requirements of Public Relations (vs Advertising and/or Marketing ). The first part: provides an overview of what "Public Relations encompass (from traditional press relations to crisis management or stakeholders relations) and how they evolved into their present state-of-the-art; then points out the specificities of Public Relations vs Advertising and/or Marketing and shows how qualitative techniques often match these specificities. Among others, the following specificities are discussed : PR focus on small, hard-to-reach but influential audience (vs large market segments); PR use two-way, interactive, interpersonal "relations (vs one- way communications); PR presuppose a "political" view of opinion- and attitude-forming, influenced vertically by opinion-leaders and laterally by social speeches (vs a "democratic" view of the market/public opinion where every consumer/citizen has equal power to build market share/public opinion) The second part describes some of the uses of qualitative research at each successive stage of a Public Relations programme, from strategic planning to tactical communication activities (e.g. press relations); and illustrates them with case studies. The paper concludes with a hopeful note on how research can still provide insight in communications, especially in disciplines such as PR that deal with complex contexts and issues - and illustrates this with a camel story.
The paper suggests qualitative research is due for a reappraisal and this should take place in a broad context that considers both qualitative and quantitative research. It discusses qualitative/quantitative distinction and a two-level, six- category classification of qualitative research. It argues that description and diagnosis apply to both qualitative and quantitative research; but to tactical and strategic approaches respectively. These should be determined by the objectives of research. It demonstrates that via interaction, integration and linkage it is possible to go from description and measurement of behaviour to achieving insight and the ability to provide actionable information.
Within market research, as in the social sciences generally, qualitative research is increasingly recognised as the only possible route to certain kinds of information. We argue that, rather than grafting isolated pieces of new technology onto the old paradigms, it will be both more valuable and entirely possible in practice to reconceptuaiise the entire process in terms of the new paradigm. Constructivism, social constructionism and the new physics are reviewed and the practical implications indicated. New ways of understanding and specifying the requirements of qualitative interviewing and the analysis of qualitative data are derived. Out of the analysis, the causal explanations offered by respondents are identified as the core phenomenon that interviewing must elicit and that can form the basis of a rigorous analysis of interview material. Attribution analysis is briefly described as one way of implementing this proposal. A system for brand positioning which is rooted in the meaning and value systems of consumers is described. BrandAudit software is presented as a concrete exemplification of the various themes of the paper.
The paper is a critical account of the experience of the authors of qualitative market research in the developing countries of the world which have led them to draw up a set of guidelines for qualitative market research. It is put forward that the general quality of qualitative research in these countries is poor and that one of the reasons for this is that clients do not clearly explain their requirements or complain properly when these requirements are not met. The guidelines are designed to overcome this problem. The guidelines themselves are then detailed and explained. Finally, the authors warn that the quality of qualitative research in these countries is damaging the overall image of the technique and propose two further ways in which the situation can be re-dressed. The first is the use of more specific terms when agencies and clients discuss the type of qualitative research to be undertaken and the second is the setting up of an international quality standard for qualitative market research.
Changes in marketing environment have, in many cases, rendered traditional company-to-consnmer marketing insufficient, as the need to target, communicate, and address the needs of different constituencies has increased. Marketing departments need to identify when marketing decisions have broader internal and external repercussions that may have a broad impact on a firm's image and positioning. These constituencies may be internal or external, but their impact on the success of a marketing plan cannot be under-estimated. Qualitative research is needed to fully understand how different constituencies may approach one issue from radically different contexts. While quantitative research can compare how different groups answer the same question, it fails to take into account that the same question may mean different things to different people. This paper presents different case studies illustrating how research can be applied to develop and integrate communication towards different audiences.
The experience derived from analysing several hundred continuous advertising tracking studies, and from conducting qualitative diagnostic research into many of the same advertisements, has led us to a number of hypotheses as to how advertising works. This has not resulted in a limited view about creative options or imposed a strait jacket around creative teams. We do not make any a priori assumptions about the suitability of any advertising style; we have merely developed a structure for moderation, analysis and interpretation. And after applying this structure to a slightly more limited investigation of press advertising and direct mail/letterbox material, we feel we can demonstrate that many of our underlying creative and research premises still hold true, whatever the media.
The growth of sponsorship as a means of communications is apparent to all. In the U.K., excluding money used to support sponsorship activity, our best estimate suggests the sports market alone to account for around £250 million in 1992 (Source: RSL Sportscan), having grown four-fold since 1982. This is approximately 4% of advertising revenue. The world market for total sponsorship is 1991 was estimated at $8,300 million (Source: 1SL) Nowadays market research has well-established techniques to consider all aspects of traditional communications media, especially advertising, from assisting in strategy development, pre-testing and post-testing. This paper discusses some of the techniques we have been developing to consider sponsorship communications media and how they have been applied across Europe. Over the past five years considerable experience in sponsorship research has been gained. Although it is still TRUE to report that the total sponsorship research market is small, this paper is based on our knowledge from over 90 group discussions conducted/co-ordinated across 9 countries 'U.K., France. Germany, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Australia. Brazil and Malaysia), with at least 4 groups in each of these countries. This qualitative experience is also backed by over 50 quantitative interviews on the subject. In particular the paper discusses the "Focused Sponsorship Simulation" technique developed by RSL. and the methods of briefing/debriefing overseas agencies to best effect.
This paper has been written by three practitioners who have not only co-ordinated studies all around the globe but have been co-ordinated as well, both by client companies as well as other research institutes. The approaches examined in this paper are thus the main ones we have encountered and our observations are based on this experience. In this paper, we seek to review these different approaches with a view to: 1. Understanding their implications and results, their relative strengths and weaknesses, applications, quality of output, utility to decision making, ability to meet strategic objectives, understanding local cultures, the costs and above all identifying the hidden dangers involved. It also examines the trade-offs that are made along the way and questions whether their implications are fully appreciated. 2. Questioning the role of the researcher. Is she or he merely a Doer; or is there a valuable contribution to be made, both at the local as well as co-ordinating level. Do clients know best where their products and markets are concerned? What are the dangers of linguists undertaking analysis or fieldwork in countries other than their own? Can one afford to ignore local input and local analysis ? 3. Examining different cultural attitudes to co-ordination. As the two main Buyers, Europe and the USA hold different views not just on co-ordination but on Qualitative Research as well. This paper will examine both viewpoints. 4. Case history material is used to support and illustrate our findings, based on over 15 years of experience of each of the authors. In this paper, we would like to review six of the most commonly used approaches to co-ordination.
This paper attempts to illustrate, through example, the qualitative market research experience in Japan within the context of international research coordination/management. There are typically three frameworks for organizing international qualitative research: Centralized coordination by a research agency with local agencies responsible for fieldwork and analysis of findings. Centralized coordination by a research agency with local agencies responsible only for fieldwork (central coordinating researcher observes all groups and carries out analysis and reporting). No coordinating agency. The client commissions the local research agencies directly. Local researcher is responsible for fieldwork and analysis of findings. Within each basic framework there are a number of possible players, for example, foreign clients, local clients, foreign creative people, local creative people, the moderator, a local research coordinator, etc.
Recent years have seen the increasing multinationalization of companies and their associated marketing activities, as well as the continual broadening and interpenetration of markets. This has led to a great increase in international research projects and particularly in the qualitative fieid. Due to the peculiar nature of qualitative research, without the protective screen of "objective" numerical data, the growing demand for multicountry' research requires us to examine our procedures more closely in order to perfect devices for survey and analysis which are really able to deal with consumer phenomena that are increasingly interrelated and complex. Traditional approaches to these problems may certainly involve various advantages; but we feel that the risk of forced or arbitrary results remains, in the sense that interpretative or idealogical shemes that are idiosyncratic for one culture ( that of the Master-Unit Research Agency ) may prevail over those emerging locally. There is also the risk, where the juxtaposition of single local analyses is rigorously carried out, that everything is processed and presented to the Client in a "neutral" key. guaranteeing the impartiality of the researcher, but leading to results which are not really problem-solving. The most correct approach seems then to be, in our opinion, to set up an integrated team, consisting of TRUE multicultural specialists . each of whom guarantees an accurate probing of the area which s/he represents but at the same time is trained to share with the others a common working style (as regards both techniques used and interpretation ) and thus acquires expertise in the dynamics of other countries by means of constant shared experience in field-work and in analysis. To this specific goal, Research International Qualitative has been set up.