Abstract:

Qualitative market research interviewing (qMRi) used to be about exploring respondents' innermost feelings in the framework of Freudian psychology. More recently qMRi has become more of a process and less of a craft. We tend now to ask people for their views on specific questions or issues, employing detailed and pre-set topic guides. The growth of social media has added a new dimension to the challenge of being a qualitative researcher in 2010. Do these channels offer more or less useful data for qualitative research? Can we regain, or will we continue to lose, the essence of qualitative interviewing? How can we use digital media to the benefit of qMRi? This paper will examine these issues and offer several recommendations.