Editorial

Citation

Tiu Wright, L. (2008), "Editorial", Qualitative Market Research, Vol. 11 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/qmr.2008.21611aaa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, Volume 11, Issue 1.

An interesting range of theoretical and practitioner-oriented papers is represented in this issue which provides food for thought and discussion. The variety of international qualitative research reflects the richness of material from Australia, North America, Portugal and the UK. The collection of papers, practitioner perspectives and book review shows that qualitative market research is indispensable in underpinning and explaining studies and meanings in the language used. These concern businesses and consumers, respondents' perceptions and emotions accorded to tribal and socialisation processes whilst giving recognition to brand power in markets.

The North American commentary paper by Rodney Haring is a case in point. He gives a consultancy perspective of why it is important to be sensitive to client and respondent needs when conducting qualitative market research in the native Indian elder care environment. From the inside looking out he gives a valued insight into the North American Native Indian situation from a marketing research perspective. A template is provided that has a list of questions designed to assist non-native consulting firms when researching indigenous tribes. He gives the perspective of written procedures and mechanisms for market research in reservation-based communities that are rarely reviewed and documented.

In urban situations there are tribal behaviour and emotive feelings, as evoked in the consumption of brands which are pronounced when one looks at them in the light of associations with football clubs. This is portrayed in the first paper by Pedro Dionísio and Carmo Leal, both from GIEM Marketing Center in Lisbon, Portugal and Luiz Moutinho from Glasgow University in Scotland. The sport of football is big business, a world-wide phenomenon that generates huge revenues and sponsorship deals. The authors' paper about fandom affiliation and tribal behaviour identifies from focus group researches how far the behaviour and commitment of fans can influence consumer preferences for sponsorship brands in a football club.

However, within a not-for-profit local authority setting there is a limit to the research spectrum compared to profit-making enterprises. The limitation occurs where such research is carried out with a small sample in a specialised area which is the focus for research. The second paper needs to be taken in this context of the not-for-profit sector where there is a lack of brand names on equipment used by Australia's local authority waste management plants. This paper by Kerri-Ann Kuhn, Frank Alpert and Nigel Pope provides an exposition of Keller's consumer brand equity in business to business, which is an insightful one for any reader wishing to know more about Keller's brand equity model. Compared to the environment of local authority waste management in Australia many industrial products in Europe and North America have the advantage of brand names for specialised materials and machine tools where equipment could be referred to by its name as a pet, e.g. the Iron Fairy (a small mobile crane) and the pc Mouse. Nevertheless, the paper provides an illuminating description of B2B practices to which a universal model may not be applicable.

With regard to communication sources in the third paper Lynda Andrews and Maree Boyle explore consumers' accounts of perceived risk online. The authors appear to be trying to do two things. First, in trying to assess how people see risk in online business objectively and second, how they feel about it in a way that is produced more by way of a subjective outcome. Their respondents are concerned about technocrooks though they have themselves not been victims. The sample is a limited one and it would have been interesting to see a comparison with respondents who actually have been caught by technocrooks. However, the paper communicates the flavour about the fear of being caught and the barriers to being crooks online. Diffusion of ideas through communication sources, e.g. talking to friends, shows how ideas are disseminated.

The fourth paper by Ruth Rettie, Helen Robinson, Anja Radke and Xiajiao Ye from Kingston University in the UK examine the requirements for Computer Assisted Qualitative Data AnalysiS known as CAQDAS in assisting qualitative market researchers in their coding and analyses. Through questioning a sample of 400 UK market researchers and conducting focus group research into online grocery shopping the authors were able to identify its benefits where it was used by a minority of people and to produce guidelines for its inclusion in market research. The authors provide sound advice in advocating CAQDAS as a supplementary tool to assist researchers in managing and mining their data. Given that potential exists for the adoption of CAQDAS in commercial market research it should be recognised that CAQDAS needs time to gain acceptance when there are priorities in competing needs for resources.

Hélène de Burgh-Woodman and Jan Brace-Govan from Monash University in Australia pick up on Roland Barthes' contribution to qualitative marketing analysis in the last paper. Perhaps, Barthes' contribution could be seen as a viable alternative to orthodox and traditional marketing principles. The author's critique avoids making value judgements about Barthes' intentions and looks at jargon, the meaning of words and statements. A case study about the sailing community is used to show the contexts. The paper considers Barthes' work on structuralism and whether it could constitute a positive addition to the linguistic analysis of the interpretation of words and phrases in the marketplace.

Sheila Kerrigan's contribution to Clive Nancarrow's piece on practitioner perspectives gives an insider practitioner look at issues for qualitative market researchers and draws attention to the work of the Association of Qualitative Researchers. There are gaps in knowledge for both academics and practitioners so their contributions are informative as well as practical.

Paul Henry's book review of Consumer Tribes catches a growing fashion in researching consumer groups exhibiting characteristics of tribal behaviour. As indicated, the traditional work on market segmentation can look rather dated and prescriptive compared to the tribal concept. The latter brings to life a big variety of social settings where consumers engage in consumption and product experiences, seemingly identifying themselves with others in likeminded consumption activities.

Finally, the work by all the authors and the reviewers of their papers is appreciated. They have contributed to making this issue a successful one.

Len Tiu Wright