Qualitative Marketing Research

Understanding Consumer Behaviour

Dominika Maison

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2026
• Topic: Business
• eBook ISBN:
  9781040606575
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

This new edition of Qualitative Marketing Research seamlessly integrates theoretical foundations with practical applications in qualitative marketing research, positioning methodologies within the broader landscape of marketing strategy, managerial decision-making, and contemporary consumer psychology.

The book offers an extensive examination of qualitative research approaches, beginning with established techniques like focus group interviews (FGI) and individual in-depth interviews (IDI), before exploring innovative ethnographic methods that reveal authentic consumer motivations, needs, values, and attitudes. Readers will gain profound insights into the psychological underpinnings of consumer behaviour, including cutting-edge understanding of unconscious and automatic cognitive processes that drive purchasing decisions. This thoroughly revised second edition features an expanded chapter dedicated to digital research methodologies, covering online and video-based focus groups, social media analytics, mobile ethnography, and the revolutionary integration of artificial intelligence in consumer research. Distinguished by its practical orientation, the text incorporates diverse international case studies from market-leading organisations including PepsiCo, Unilever, Danone, Nestlé, Aviva, and Citibank, demonstrating how theoretical concepts translate into actionable insights across various industries and cultural contexts.

This definitive work serves as indispensable reading for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students specialising in marketing research, consumer behaviour, and consumer psychology.

This book offers complementary online resources including comprehensive chapter-by-chapter PowerPoint presentations.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• About the Author
• Introduction
• 1 Why we need qualitative research methods: The role of research in marketing
• 2 From consciousness to unconsciousness: Evolution in understanding consumers and its consequences for qualitative marketing research practice
• 3 What does a marketer want to know?: Classic domains of qualitative marketing research
• 4 What else would a marketer like to know?: New areas where qualitative research can be used
• 5 Diversity in qualitative methods: A range of tools for the marketing researcher
• 6 Projective and enabling techniques: A way to go beyond declarations
• 7 Step 1: Defining the research questions and research schemata
• 8 Step 2: Discussion guide: The art of asking the right questions
• 9 Step 3: Conducting an interview: The difference between good and bad moderators
• 10 Step 4: Analysing and interpreting qualitative data
• 11 Future of qualitative research: Does AI replace qualitative research and researchers?
• Appendix 1
• Appendix 2
• Index