I have never understood the constant debate between quantitative and qualitative research. For the last 20 years I have been a qualitative researcher, this perhaps reflects my own love of digging deep to understand why individuals, cohorts and even populations respond as they do and how brands can adapt their communications and product development to improve their consumers reactions to their brands.
However, before that I was a Brand Manager, Marketing Manager, Marketing Director and made thorough use of both quantitative and qualitative research to understand my brands.
Criticisms often represent a lack of understanding of the purpose and value of the specific study.
It is easy to take pot shots at qualitative studies for not having enough sample points or being unrepresentative of a population. It is equally easy to criticise the depth of insight and new learnings from a quantitative study. The truth is that while sometimes these criticisms are valid of a poorly constructed quant or qual study, they more often represent a lack of understanding of the purpose and value of the specific study.
If you need to know what is happening at scale, if you need a statistically representative picture of who is doing what you need quantitative research.
If you need to answer the question of why and what do we need to do to solve a problem, then you need qualitative research.
If you have a desire to move your brand forward, to out-compete your competitors, then you need both.
Quantitative data helps you to see the areas where you need to focus your attention, qualitative data helps you to focus that attention.
Every brand owner knows that consumers buy emotionally more than rationally. Digging deep into understanding consumers’ emotions and how your communications and product experience interact with the consumers’ sub-conscious is very important. It is doubtful that quantitative methodologies are going to shed much light in this area, while good psychometric research may help you to see your brand and the way that consumers respond to it in a completely new and informative light.
You may, however, wish to quantify some of the findings before you re-brief your communications or product development and you will almost certainly want to quantitatively check any major changes before you go live.
Today there is no shortage of data sources and it can be difficult to identify what is most relevant and important. Spotting trends in the quantitative data and then investigating them in more detail via a qualitative study will help you to find your way through.
Quantitative data helps you to see the areas where you need to focus your attention, qualitative data helps you to focus that attention.
When you have a more detailed understanding of the interaction between your consumer and your brand, you can see and interpret the quantitative data in a more intelligent and useful way.
Chris Lukehurst is a Director at The Marketing Clinic:
Understanding the connections between the consumer experience and emotional responses.
