Qualitative Marketing Research: The State of Journal Publications

Qualitative methods in marketing have become essential not only for their classical advantage in consumer behavior, but also for their benefits in dealing with big data and data mining. Research from International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that when it comes to online data, unstructured content accounts for 90% of all digital information. Under these circumstances, this study provides a literature review and analysis on the role and relation of qualitative methods with quantitative methods in marketing research. The paper analyzes research articles that include qualitative studies in the top marketing journals during the last decade and focuses on their topic, domain, methods used and whether they used any triangulation with quantitative methods. Starting from this analysis, the study provides recommendations that can help better integrate qualitative methods in marketing research, academics and practice. Keywords: Qualitative Analysis, Marketing, Triangulation Introduction The black swan theory refers to events hard to predict statistically, with three main characteristics: rarity, extreme "impact," and retrospective predictability, due to the human nature's capacity to formulate explanations for occurrences after the fact (Taleb, 2007). There is a point where even great statistics fail and give way to the (sometimes) unpredictable human nature and alternative explanations. It is here that qualitative research finds its greatest role, in its potential to understand and explain complex phenomena and situation, in acquiring everyday knowledge and in building theories (Cooper, 2008; Gummesson, 2005; Hirschman, 1986). While the role of qualitative research in the marketing discipline has evolved in both research and practice, there are still many topics left to debate and numerous obstacles that qualitative methods users encounter (Alam, 2005; Bailey, 2014; Barnham, 2010; Martin, 2005). Besides discussions related to paradigms and the classical comparison between positivism and interpretivism, there is also a divide regarding the formulation of objectives and the tools used in qualitative research by academics and practitioners (Bailey, 2014). For example, researchers have noted that the qualitative methods are least understood and most criticized research methods, not only because of the characteristics of the methods, but also because of the manner in which they are used and promoted in journal publications (Alam, 2005). Qualitative methods are even more important now, with the development of online consumer communications, from blogs to social media posts and product reviews, where qualitative tools of analysis can prove beneficial for researchers and practitioners. Research from International Data Corporation (IDC; Schubmehl & Vesset, 2014) shows that when it comes to online data, unstructured content accounts for 90% of all digital information. This can include information from customer surveys, response forms, online forums, social media, documents, videos, news reports, phone calls to call centers and information gathered by the sales team. This knowledge is typically textual rather than numerical, and it is not easily quantified (Noyes, 2015; Skageby, 2015). Practitioners note that, when connected and used properly, this type of information can help increase revenue, reduce costs, respond to customer needs more quickly and accurately, or bring products to market faster (Schubmehl & Vesset, 2014). The research question that guided this investigation is related to how are qualitative methods used in marketing research, how did they evolved in the past decades, and whether they are keeping up with the new technologies and market changes. In this context, this study attempts to take the pulse of the major marketing research journals in a review of articles that use qualitative methods in order to assess their current use and make recommendations based on the information collected. …