Qualis? The qualitative understanding of essence

This paper challenges the commonly held view that qualitative research emerged from modern psychology, and argues that it has much older origins in western thought.

Qualis? The qualitative understanding of essence

Chis Barnham

Chris Barnham Research

Introduction

In a previous paper in this journal I argued that if we think of brands as essences then we need to think about the processes of brand experience and brand perception in ways that are substantially different from conventional models. I showed how essences get into our minds via a process of ‘instantiation’ – we soak them up in a way that parallels the arguments put forward by Robert Heath (Heath 2001). A second paper developed this thesis and considered how brands (as essences), once they are present...

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