METHODS FOR STUDYING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

THE NEED FOR RESEARCH

There are many ways to learn about consumer behavior. Each time a marketer talks to or observes a consumer or a salesperson interacts with a potential customer, or a customer returns a comment card, some information about consumer behavior may be transmitted. As a marketing manager gains experience with products and markets, he develops some ideas about why consumers buy his product. These ideas take the form of relatively complex theories about consumers, particularly among more seasoned managers. Often these implicit theories are quite useful and are a valuable aid when the manager is planning a marketing campaign. It is particularly important that knowledge about consumer behavior be developed by systematic observation of a representative set of consumers. The vehicle for obtaining these systematic observations is scientific research. There are many types of scientific research that may be used to study consumer behavior: interviews, observations, survey results, and experimentation. All of these methods, however, have in common the use of a scientific method.

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

There are many ways to obtain knowledge about the world in which we live. Each method, whether it be intuitive or thescientific method, may be considered valid in its own way. There is nothing about the scientific method that makes it better, in an absolute sense, than other means of obtaining information. It is, however a method that has particular characteristics. It is, however a method that has particular characteristics. Use of the scientific method means following a set of rules to acquire information. While there is some debate among philosophers and scientists about these rules, there is general agreement about the basic approach. The scientific method seeks objectivity, that is, it is concerned with identifying facts and relationships that can be publicly verified. If an observation is made about consumer behavior by one individual, it should be possible for others, at least those with similar instruments, tools, and expertise, to make the same observation. Public verification and empiricism jointly emphasize the need for replacing research findings. Thus, results of a test market in one city may be verified by a test market in a second city.

METHODS FOR STUDYING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Certain occasions require the study in detail of a small number of consumers. This may occur when one desires a great deal of information from each consumer and when relatively little is known about the phenomenon of interest. The best way to obtain detailed information about what a consumer likes and dislikes about a product, store, or advertisement is to use qualitative research.

Qualitative research typically takes the form of in-depth interviews

with a small number of consumers. These interviews may be done one individual at a time, or in groups. Individual interviews have the advantages of providing very rich information and avoiding the influence of others on the opinion of any one individual. Individual interviews are very expensive and time consuming, however, and as a result, it is not likely that any one research program will interview large number of individuals.

FOCUS GROUPS
A more common and less time consuming method for interviewing consumers is the group method. Focus groups involve a group interview led by a trained moderator. They are called focus groups because they tend to focus on some topic, a product, a problem, or an advertisement. The moderator usually poses relatively few questions about the topic of interest and allows the group to discuss each question in detail. This free-flowing group discussion often suggests new information or perspective that the marketer finds useful.

PROJECTIVE TECHINQUES
Although it is often sufficient merely to ask direct questions of consumers in order to garner responses, it is sometimes helpful to use standardized techniques for eliciting responses. Most of these techniques fall within the domain of projective techniques.

Word Association: Word association is one of the best known and most widely used forms of projective technique, since it is relatively easy to apply and can be used effectively to screen brand names for negative connotations or to uncover consumers feeling about new products. Typically the respondent is asked to give the first word that comes to mind in response to each of a list of unrelated words. For example, if

researchers were seeking consumer reactions to cake mix, they might submit a list of words in which cake mix was intermixed with other food products, such as bread, steak, eggs, and soup. Sentence Completion: Another frequently used projective technique is the sentence-completion tests. As its name implies, a word or phrase is given as the stimulus, and the respondent is asked to add words that come to mind in order to complete the thought. For example, the stimulus When I bake a cake a cake, _______ might give rise to such responses as I always use Betty Crocker Cake Mix, I feel like Im doing something special for my family, I get it over with as quickly as possible, or I am always afraid it will dry out before we eat it all. Picture and Visual Methods: They can show a marketing situation, a product-in-use situation, and so forth. The important aspect of the picture method is that respondents project themselves into the situation, revealing their attitudes by the way they fill in the cartoon balloon. A number of variations on the empty-balloon technique have been devised. In one variation, two individuals are shown disagreeing on some point, and the respondent is asked which he or she agrees with and why. Or a respondent may be shown a picture of a particular product or brand in use and be asked to comment or tell a story about it. Situational Methods: Situational methods are related to picture and visual techniques, although they differ from them in that a verbal rather than a pictorial stimulus is used. Typically, a situational approach will ask respondents to describe in detail the kind of person who would buy a particular product, shop at a particular store, or perform some particular act. Another approach is to have the interviewer describe a situation and ask the respondent how the situation is resolved.

SURVEY RESEARCH
The type of consumer research that no doubt involves contact with the greater number of consumers is survey research. Survey research attempts to obtain answers to relatively structured questions form a reasonably representative set of consumers. Most often the set of consumers is large (several hundred at a minimum) so that statistical inferences may be drawn about the larger population that the survey respondents represent. Survey research may be carried out by personal interview, mail interview, telephone interview, or some combination of these methods.

OBSERVATION AND SIMULATION

The last method of obtaining information about consumers is less common than other methods. It involves the direct observation of the behavior of individuals, groups, or organizations. It has an number of disadvantages. Since it does not rely on self-reports, it may not require the cooperation of consumers and indeed, may be the only source of information when consumers are unaware of certain aspects of their own behavior. Observation eliminates problems associated with forgetting or distorting of information caused by an interviewer and the interviewing process.

Direct observation does

entail limitations, however. Such internal events vas beliefs, feelings, and preferences cannot be observed. A wide variety of personal behavior is simply not accessible to observation. Finally, when consumers are aware that they are being observed, they may change their behavior.