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Projective Terchniques
Edited by Cliva R. Boddy and Robin Croft
Introduction
[10] Boddy (2005a) described the reliability and validity of projective techniques for market research. Although research with projective techniques can be qualitative or quantitative ([10] Boddy, 2005a; [58] Levy, 1994), the quantitative approach represents the dominant tradition of projective research in the United States, which was strongly influenced by The Achievement Motive ([71] McClelland et al. , 1953). In contrast, [10] Boddy's (2005a) description was principally qualitative.
[42] Haire (1950) conducted the first published marketing study in the United States using projective techniques ([10] Boddy, 2005a). [42] Haire (1950) found that women consumers formed impressions about other women based on their product purchases, which they could not, or would not, state during direct questioning. The study, which preceded the publication of [71] McClelland et al. 's (1953) book, was principally descriptive. Haire's approach is known as the "shopping list experiment" ([102] Reid and Buchanan, 1978).
In a diffusion of innovation study conducted among Iowa farmers published in Journal of Marketing , [105] Rogers and Beal (1958) found that respondents were often vague and embarrassed when answering questions about other social groups, such as agricultural scientists. To overcome this, [105] Rogers and Beal (1958) used projective pictorial tests showing individuals from different social groups interacting, combined with questions derived from the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; [87] Murray, 1943; [71] McClelland et al. , 1953). [105] Rogers and Beal (1958) found that the projective technique generated positive and negative responses, unlike direct questioning, and that positive statements about agricultural scientists were positively associated with the rapid adoption of new farm practices. This was the first in a series of marketing-related studies influenced by the research of [71] McClelland et al. (1953).
As [42] Haire (1950), [105] Rogers and Beal (1958) and other academic researchers experimented with projective techniques, several professional researchers - the best known being Ernest Dichter ([122] Stern, 2005) - proclaimed that projective techniques were far superior to other research methods because they assessed deep-rooted motivations. For this reason, the techniques were described as "motivational research." These claims led to a public debate among professional market researchers about the value of these methods (see [111] Rothwell, 1955; [131] Wells, 1956). However, the debate did...