Global Qualitative Research: The McDonaldization of Consumer Insight?

Clive Nancarrow, Andy Barker, Claire Salkeld and Jason Vir

The process and output of international qualitative marketing research is examined using the four pillars of Ritzer’s McDonaldization thesis: efficiency, calculability, predictability and control.

Global Qualitative Research: The McDonaldization of Consumer Insight?

Jason Vir, Claire Salkeld, and Andy Barker, NFO MBL andClive Nancarrow, Bristol Business School, UWE

THE THESIS

Factory farming?

Some qualitative researchers have been accused of factory farming. In a survey carried out by Barker, Nancarrow & Spackman (2000) this criticism is made by several researcher respondents at openended questions. More recently Wendy Gordon (Research, Nov.2001) observes that some research companies have become like factories. In the following issue of Research (Letters section), Anne Whalley (chair of the Association for Qualitative...

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