An Analysis of the Fundamentals of Marketing (part 36)

Marketing Research (part D)

by

Charles Lamson

Use of Projective Methods

Qualitative research uses a 'body of research techniques which seeks insights through loosely structured, mainly verbal data rather than measurements. Analysis is interpretive, subjective, impressionistic and diognostic' (MRS, 2006). It uses unstructured stimuli, objects or situations to elicit the individual's characteristic way of perceiving the world. Examples of such methods include:

• Sentence completion tests. Sentences may be partially formed and left to be completed by the respondent, e.g. 'The person who uses instant powdered milk is...'
• Word association tests. Certain words are introduced and the respondent is asked to link them with the product, service or brand being investigated. Opposite meaning words may be considered, e.g. 'hot and cold'; 'sweet and sour'; 'black and white' and the association of the words to give a profile for the subject being investigated. Such information is used to determine product images which may need to be adjusted by promotional campaigns.
• Cartoon completion exercises. A cartoon picture with an empty 'bubble' is presented to the respondent for caption completion. Frequently such methods are used for studies of children's demand.
• Third-person tests. Sometimes respondents are more willing to discuss their personal behavior pattern when they can dissociate, or distance themselves personally from their behavior. By discussing the behavior of a third person the respondent may be more likely to highlight the idiosyncrasies of the eating habits of a third person than when describing his/her personal habits. Typically, this type of research presents a number of buying situations to the respondent, e.g. different people buying in different places. The respondent is asked to comment on the behavior. Such tests can provide information related to sensitive matters that the individual might otherwise decline to discuss.

• Personification. Since consumers tend not to think of brand images, a means of 'projecting' this image is through descriptions which are easier to understand, e.g. what type of person would a particular newspaper be? Does it feel male or female; old or young? What type of job would it do? Such personification projecting also can be done with reference to types of cars which are easy to interpret, e.g. the character of a Rolls-Royce compared with that of a Ford Focus. Frequently, consumer opinions are assessed through the respondent preparing a collage to express views about a particular product or brand. An assortment of words, pictures or images are taken from magazines and the respondent is asked to select those which most closely relate to the product or brand in question. With personification, or collage, as with most projective methods, explore the reasons why respondents come up with their particular answers on images is probably more important than the answer itself.
• Picture interpretation. Examples include: the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT); the Rorschach inkblot test; picture drawing; fantasy situation explanation. these are a series of research methods that have been developed by psychiatry and psychology which, on occasion, have been used in marketing research. However, the interpretation of their findings has been subject to low reliability and validity so their use is uncommon in present-day marketing research. Essentially, they use prompts to encourage the respondent to discuss personal associations. Responses related to marketing research are difficult to elicit.

• Psychodrama situation acting. It is difficult to use this research method within marketing research. In essence, the respondent is asked to act out the typical purchaser of, say, coffee and to compare that behavior with that of the purchaser of other competing brands. This could be feasible if brand awareness and images were strong, but often the awareness attributes are subtle, showing limited differences for similar products. Moreover, usually, it takes more time to elicit the behavior pattern using psychodrama than using other research methods such as group discussion which can obtain the assessments more readily and more quickly.

*SOURCE: FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING, 2007, MARILYN A. STONE, PGS. 130-132*

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