Chapter 4 Exploratory and Observational Research Designs MARKETING RESEARCH IN A

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Chapter 4 Exploratory and Observational Research Designs MARKETING RESEARCH IN ACTION Reaching Hispanics through Qualitative Research More than 50.5 million (16 percent of the US. population) are classfied as Hispanic. The Hispanic/Latino population is diverse as it flows from many Spanish-speaking coun- tries around the world characterized by different levels of acculturation. When Hispanics become acculturated, they often strongly identify with both America and their country of origin, an effect that persists across generations. A minority of Hispanics use Spanish as their primary language, with most Hispanics preferring to speak both Spanish and English. Vice president of multicultural business development at Horowitz Associates, Adriana Waterston, emphasizes that approaching the Hispanic segment "has never been exclusively about language as much as cultural relevance." Other researchers have concluded that whatever the country of origin, five themes are relevant in Spanish-speaking communities family, moral values, religion, music, cooking, dancing, and socializing. How do these findings influence marketing research? Ricardo Lopez, president of Hispanic Research, Inc, asserts that qualitative research is especially appropriate for the Hispanic marketplace and emphasizes that the population has to be approached differ- ently in order for research to be useful. Quantitative research methods are structured, inear, and dry, suggesting government and academic research rather than connectiosn. Latinos prefer qualitative approaches that involve tangents, storytelling, and in ?"es, i ve process often characterized as lively. This style of interaction is especially ble among less-acculturated Latino populations but is evident among accultur- ted Hispanics as well. Participants in qualitative research projects should be treated like a guest in your home as it is important to form a strong emotional connection to facili teraction. Face-to-face focus groups, in-depth interviews, and ethnography are all appropriate for the Latino marketplace. When a relevant population can be recruited that has access to the Internet, in-depth interviews using webcams, bulletin board focus groups, and MROCs can also produce high-quality insights into Hispanic populations tate in for clients MROCs are increasingly being utilized with Hispanics, including those who prefer to participate in Spanish as well as those who prefer to communicate in English. Communi- space has recruited Hispanics of all ages, nationalities, and acculturation levels to partici- pate in Spanish-language brand communities. The facilitators of research among these communities recommend a different approach for engaging these consumers. Facilita tors allow members to make the community their space where participants can form close bonds, trading advice and personal stories. Also, participants should be allowed to build personal relationships with each other and the facilitators, replicating the sense of family so important in Hispanic culture. Last, more facilitation is needed in Hispanic MROCs not only because this segment values connectedness, but also because m is needed for technical issues. If the extra work is invested, the insights generated can be extraordinary Traditional marketing research among Hispanics has often focused too hea fying the marketplace in terms of language, acculturation, and generation. Perhaps this is because of overreliance on quantitative research approaches. One stren tive research is the ability to tap deeper contextual, psychological, and cult the Latino marketplace research continues to grow, marketing researchers will need to adjust their ontinually identifying "culturally relevant ways to interact."

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Summary of the article

The article here talks about the different methodologies involving the market research on the Hispanic/Latino population. With the ever growing numbers of the Hispanics in the United States and in the other parts of the world, the Latino marketplace is also seeing a growth like never before. Therefore, companies are deploying all the possible methods of reaching out to the Hispanics and in the process, gaining important marketing insights. The article suggests that the researchers should rely on the qualitative research methodologies rather than the traditional quantitative ones as the latter are structured, linear and may not bring out the desired results for the researchers.

Although, minority of Hispanics have Spanish as their primary language of communication, majority of Hispanics can speak both Spanish and English. As rightfully highlighted in the article, approaching the Hispanic segment has less to do with the language but more with the cultural relevance. It points out to the fact that in Hispanics community, food, music, dance, religion, moral values and family are more relevant than anything else.

The Hispanic population instead, likes to develop emotional bonds and wants to be treated like a family. Therefore, researchers can use popular qualitative research methods like face-to-face focus groups, in-depth interviews, and other culturally relevant ways to engage with the Latino population. The Hispanics prefer bonding, storytelling, sharing advices and similar interactions to connect with each other. Therefore, if the researchers want to dwell deep and engage with the Hispanics, they need to treat them differently by making the whole research exercise a more personal engagement.

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