Abstract:

Marketing research often turns out to be a "killer of ideas and innovations" if the examination of products, concepts, etc. is restricted to the measurement of attitudes and consumer judgements. Within Europe, there is an increasing demand for research that reveals the consumer's latent expectations, and that is suitable as a valid check on innovative ideas and concepts. In addition, this kind of research should be usable internationally, i.e. in multi-country research or pan- European studies. So-called qualitative research is a priori predestined to accomplish these tasks. However there are a number of problems, e.g. unlike in the field of quantitative methods, there is little overview of the methodological repertoire available in this field. These methods are frequently strongly marked by individual cultures and are therefore scarcely usable directly for international studies. This paper presents the results of a method experiment carried out over several years and involving researchers from ten European countries. The result is a catalogue of qualitative techniques which are specifically suited to the measurement of consumers' latent expectations and the verification of innovative concepts, and which have proved their value internationally. This "tool box" therefore includes a repertoire of "diagnostic research" that goes beyond the measurements of judgements This is the first systematic synopsis of these techniques, which to date have only rarely been the subject of the international exchange of ideas between researchers. It does not offer a "final" or complete catalogue, but should be understood as a starting point and as a stimulus to make this hitherto somewhat neglected field increasingly the subject of discussion between researchers from different disciplines and cultures.