The Importance of Personal Interviews in Marketing Research

Why do marketing researchers typically favor personal interviews?

a) Mail surveys b) Direct observation c) Experiments d) Personal interviews e) Telephone surveys

Answer:

Personal interviews are favored by marketing researchers due to their flexibility.

Marketing researchers typically favor personal interviews because they are extremely flexible. These interviews allow for direct interaction with respondents, providing rich data, and can explore the subject matter in depth. While other methods have their uses depending on the research at hand, personal interviews are versatile and provide detailed information.

The method chosen by researchers often depends on the nature of the research. For instance, when dealing with sensitive issues requiring confidentiality, they may choose mail surveys. However, to gather a large quantity of data, telephone surveys or online questionnaires may be used. Despite this, personal interviews remain a favorite due to their adaptability and the depth of responses they can yield.

Every method has its strengths and weaknesses. Observational studies produce a lot of detailed data, but from smaller samples, making generalization to the whole population difficult. On the other hand, surveys, including telephone and online ones, can engage larger samples, but generally yield shallower information. Personal interviews strike a balance by allowing a fair amount of detail to be collected from a reasonable number of respondents.

Personal interviews involve direct communication with respondents, allowing researchers to ask follow up questions, clarify doubts, and probe deeper into the subject. This is an advantage over other methods like written surveys and observations which don't provide the same opportunity for immediate interaction.