Whether in Paris, Lyon, France or abroad, various marketing issues can lead to the implementation of qualitative Market Research :
- Observation of consumption patterns
- Search for new concepts of consumption
- Search for message to convey
- Optimization research for new products in the development phase
- Advertising message or product prototype test
- Exploring the understanding of the client-advertiser relationship
The different types of qualitative Market Research
There are many qualitative market research methodologies, the best known being: group meetings – or focus groups, face-to-face interviews, and all ethnographic methods such as direct or indirect observation, …
These various methods apply to all areas where qualitative market research can be requested and, particularly to marketing.
Consumer / Focus group meetings in qualitative Market Research
Another method used in qualitative market research is group meetings or round tables or Focus Group or Consumer meeting. The interviewer gathers a number of consumers in a room, usually between 6 and 10 people.
Similar to face-to-face interviews, an enumerator leads a group meeting using a facilitator’s guide that includes questions for participants to answer.
Group meetings are an opportunity for participants to interact with each other. They can thus make associations of ideas, bounce back and react to what the previous person said, and bring new elements to the qualitative market research.
Group meetings promote new ideas, opinions are multiplied. They also provide access to a new tool in qualitative market research : collective work, especially through creativity groups.
Face-to-face interviews in qualitative Market Research
Face-to-face interviews result from the meeting of an interviewer and an interviewee.
In a face-to-face interview, the goal of the interviewer is to collect a consumer’s feelings about an issue. He will try to understand his behavior, to collect his impressions and to decipher his attitudes.
To conduct the interview, the interviewer uses his facilitation guide, which includes pre-established questions that the consumer will have to answer.
The face-to-face interview is the way to go in depth, to immediately bounce back on concepts brought up by the consumer and to have access to more personal points of view on the part of the consumer.
Qualitative Market Research online
One of the tools used in qualitative studies is Online. There are two ways to carry out a qualitative market research Online:
The Internet forum led by an investigator
The Internet forum brings together around a facilitator 6 to 10 Internet users in a virtual lounge. The principle is the same as in a classic group meeting: the participants bounce back and react to the statements of others. They are led by a facilitator who asks questions for about 1 hour 30 minutes.
the Online newspaper
Like a diary, participants complete an online form every day and answer questions posed by the interviewer. This type of qualitative tool can be used over a week, two weeks or more. Online newspapers provide information from consumers over time. They provide a very representative image of consumers’ daily habits. It is thus possible to realize, for example, the differences in the use of a product depending on the day of the week. The number of participants is not limited. Online qualitative market research allow geographically dispersed targets to be grouped together and guarantee anonymity and therefore promote free expression. Consumers can therefore confide without fear of being judged.