Editorial

Citation

Tiu Wright, L. (2012), "Editorial", Qualitative Market Research, Vol. 15 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/qmr.2012.21615caa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, Volume 15, Issue 3

This international issue features particular aspects of qualitative research in a highly topical way. There is a mix of theoretical and full research papers. The theoretical papers include the commentary paper at the start and the practitioner perspectives paper at the finish. In between there are four papers linking theories to methodological development as full research papers.

The commentary paper contribution from Tony Wilson currently based in Malaysia raises the question of what phenomenology can offer to consumers. In a philosophical manner the author looks at consumer discourse as a potentially important designed and methodological approach, given the goal-directed activities of consumers. Phenomenological activity is prevalent in consumer responses to market offerings and discussed by the author as “spatio-temporal images of people responding to media marketing’s branded life-styles”. A Malaysian case study is briefly introduced to help support the author’s case that the conceptual route via phenomenology’s application to marketing communication research practice is a viable one.

The first research paper from Australia comes from Tendai Chikweche and Richard Fletcher with a long and well explained title, ”Undertaking research at the bottom of the pyramid using qualitative methods: from theoretical considerations to practical realities“. This is a conceptual paper with mixed methods researches, but the paper itself is essentially qualitative. The authors affirm that their researches at consumer and supplier levels at the bottom of the pyramid suggest a strong presence of their diversity rather than any homogenous traits. This is an interesting study of how traditional social networks engendering trust and communications are essential elements that are organically evolved and supported on the ground.

Mixed methods research also features in the second paper from the USA by Lynn E. Metcalf, Jeffrey S. Hess, Jeffrey E. Danes and Jay Singh. In their review of the literature relating to package design and packaging research, the authors found evidence that industry professionals and packaging researchers favour a of qualitative and quantitative research modes. These are included in their study of packaging issues for which the authors attempt to build a framework to limit or to get rid of misleading information. The authors recognise the limitations of their exploratory work based on a sample of Danish food companies and consumers organizations so they have looked for external validation. They make the argument that by applying their findings to other countries where shared values might be culturally determined they would be able to contribute to stages within a framework. That is, to demonstrate “a new tool in the management toolbox for testing information” seen as applicable and useful in other EU-countries and elsewhere.

Sebastian Uhrich and Michael Luck in the third paper utilise the different qualitative techniques of semi-structured interviews, shopping with consumers and focus groups to examine negative effects of low customer density in retail settings. The authors from Germany set out to explore the theoretical mechanisms that underlie customer density of shopper outcomes and which follow an inverted U-shaped trend. A diagrammatic representation is given in the paper. There is a tendency for research papers to study the positive effects and outcomes from consumer shopping. This paper makes its contribution in opening up the discussion of the negative effects of low customer density on shoppers’ emotions with an examination of their behavioural responses in retail settings.

A fourth research paper by Mark MacPherson, Steven Dukeshire, Gefu Wang-Pruski and Vivek Varma from Canada puts the case that there should be more investigation about what factors influence consumers in their purchasing decisions of potatoes. Given that for over a decade the North American fresh potato market has been in decline, the authors argue that this is an important field and a neglected one. Consumer value orientations motivating consumption with discussion of the satisfaction and dissatisfaction in consumer choices are provided. Given the framework and its qualitative research methodology the paper adds a deeper understanding of consumer purchase decisions for a staple product.

Writing in the Practitioner perspectives section a different paper is provided by Sheila Keegan from the UK, who evokes memories of a career that has been using digital technologies and asks what impact these are having on qualitative researchers. She builds on her long qualitative experience in the commercial sector to reflect upon certain key events in the digital revolution, the people who helped to introduce and define them and from whom she draws her inspiration. Trawling through the literature and some of the effects of digital technologies, her paper is at once a personal journey and a forward looking discussion about how qualitative research would be affected.

Finally, I thank all the authors and reviewers for their contributions to this normal issue. Their efforts are greatly appreciated.

Len Tiu Wright