2.1 Consumer research paradigms

A consumer is a person who identifies a need or desire, makes a purchase, and /or disposes of the product. Marketers are very concerned with their consumers and their behavior. This is the reason of the importance of the study of the consumer behavior. Therefore consumer behavior is the processes involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use or dispose of products, services, ideas, or experience to satisfy needs or desires. In order to understand the consumer behavior, it is important to analyze the aspect of market segmentations strategies. It is important to understand that consumer research is a part of market research in which the preferences, motivations and buying behavior of the customer are identified through direct observation, mail surveys, telephone, face to face interviews, and from published sources (such as demographic data).

The term consumer research represents the process and tools used to study consumer behavior. This study is based on two important perspectives on consumer behavior. These perspectives are applied on research orientation and can be divided into approaches or paradigms: The positivist approach and the interpretivist approach.

Paradigm is the set of beliefs that guide our understanding of the world. A paradigm dominates the discipline of consumer behavior study. As it was mentioned above, there are two major perspectives or paradigms that seek to understand and study consumer behavior, the positivism and the interpretivism.

2.1 Consumer research paradigms

Positivism or modernism:

Positivism is sometimes called modernism. This paradigm emphasizes the idea that human reason is

supreme and that there is a single objective truth that science can discover. Positivism emphasizes the

objectivity of science and studies the consumer as a rational decision maker. It focus on the function of

objects, the importance of technology and regard the world as a rational, ordered place with a clearly

defined past, present, and future.

The methods used in positivist research are borrowed primarily from the natural sciences and consist of

experiments, survey techniques, and observation. The findings are descriptive, empirical, and if

collected randomly, can be generalized to larger populations.

Interpretivism or post modernism:

This is a new paradigm that argues that the society gives too much concern on science and technology.

It is the rational view of behavior that denies the actual complex social and cultural world. Interpretivism

stresses on the subjective meaning of the consumer's individual experience and the idea that any

behavior is subject to multiple interpretations rather than one single explanation. Some of the critics of

this paradigm is that it puts too much emphasizes on material well being. Interpretivists stress the

importance of the idea that meaning is in the mind of the person and based on his unique and...

2.1 Consumer research paradigms

...shared cultural experience.

The different methodologies used in the interpretivism:

Ethnography: A technique in which the researchers place themselves and participate in the society under study in order to understand the meaning of various cultural practices.

Semoitics: The study of symbols and what they represent. They are concerned about understanding the meaning that nonverbal symbols convey to the target audience.

Depth interviews: The findings of an interpretive depth interview are unique to the specific researcher consumer interaction because they play an important role in the interview process.