Using qualitative research methods in biomedical innovation:the case of cultured red blood cells for transfusion

Background  Qualitative research has a key role to play in biomedical innovation projects. This article focuses on the appropriate use of robust social science methodologies (primarily focus group studies) for identifying the public’s willingness and preference for emerging medical technologies. Our study was part of the BloodPharma project (now known as the Novosang project) to deliver industrially generated red blood cells for transfusion. Previous work on blood substitutes shows that the public prefers donated human blood. However, no research has been conducted concerning attitudes to stem cell derived red blood cells.  Method  Qualitative research methods including interviews and focus groups provide the methodological context for this paper.  Results  Focus groups were used to elicit views from sub-sections of the UK population about the potential use of such cultured red blood cells. We reflect on the appropriateness of that methodology in the context of the BloodPharma project. Findings are in the form of lessons transferable to other interdisciplinary, science-led teams about what a social science dimension can bring; why qualitative research should be included; and how it can be used effectively.  Discussion  Qualitative data collection offers the strength of exploring ambivalence and investigating the reasons for views, but not necessarily their prevalence in wider society. The inherent value of a qualitative method, such as focus groups, therefore lies in its ability to uncover new information. This contrasts with a quantitative approach to simply ‘measuring’ public opinion on a topic about which participants may have little prior knowledge. We discuss a number of challenges including: appropriate roles for embedded social scientists and the intricacies of doing upstream engagement as well as some of the design issues and limitations associated with the focus group method

Exploring perceptions of advertising ethics: an informant-derived approach

Whilst considerable research exists on determining consumer responses to pre-determined statements within numerous ad ethics contexts, our understanding of consumer thoughts regarding ad ethics in general remains lacking. The purpose of our study therefore is to provide a first illustration of an emic and informant-based derivation of perceived ad ethics. The authors use multi-dimensional scaling as an approach enabling the emic, or locally derived deconstruction of perceived ad ethics. Given recent calls to develop our understanding of ad ethics in different cultural contexts, and in particular within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, we use Lebanon—the most ethically charged advertising environment within MENA—as an illustrative context for our study. Results confirm the multi-faceted and pluralistic nature of ad ethics as comprising a number of dimensional themes already salient in the existing literature but in addition, we also find evidence for a bipolar relationship between individual themes. The specific pattern of inductively derived relationships is culturally bound. Implications of the findings are discussed, followed by limitations of the study and recommendations for further research

Examining the mere exposure effect in a marketing context

The mere exposure effect (MEE) was first identified by Zajonc (1968:1) who observed that, “the mere repeated exposure of the individual to a stimulus is a sufficient condition for the enhancement of his attitude towards it. By ‘mere exposure’ is meant a condition which just makes the given stimulus accessible to the individual's perception.” Since then, this robust experimental phenomenon has been demonstrated in over 300 studies in the psychology literature; most often in relation to changes in affective response to abstract, novel stimuli (for  reviews see Harrison, 1977; Bornstein, 1989; Bornstein and Craver-Lemley, 2004). Given that it provides a  theoretical and empirical framework within which to explore and explain the attitudinal effects of repeated,  fleeting communication that receives minimal attention and elaboration, it has been deemed to be most  important to the fields of marketing and consumer behaviour (Bornstein and Craver-Lemley, 2004). Indeed, it may be considered to be particularly relevant in the context of a contemporary consumption environment that is  largely characterised by a proliferation of brands, media and messages, the fragmentation of traditional  channels and audiences, and thus low levels of consumer attention, engagement and involvement. Under such conditions, it may be argued that the MEE constitutes a potentially important means by which to study,  understand and shape the effects of simple, repeated brand communication.However, it is important to acknowledge that the nature of marketing stimuli, consumption-based evaluation and decision-making, and the context in which this occurs is often quite different from the laboratory conditions in  which the MEE has been demonstrated in psychological research. As such, there is a need to robustly test the assumptions that may be drawn from four decades of experimental research in psychology before they can be  confidently applied in the specific domain of marketing. At the same time, however, it is important to stress that  the MEE represents just one of an array of potential influences on real-world consumer processing and  decisionmaking. Furthermore, and within the constraints of current methodological alternatives, it is arguably  impossible to isolate, identify and examine this phenomenon alone in such a complex natural environment. As  such, it is necessary to take an incremental approach to the extension of abstract psychological research in the  marketing domain; to carefully bridge the gap between pure psychological understanding and that which relates specifically to consumer behaviour. A relatively small body of experimental marketing research has endeavoured  to begin this process; although (it will be argued) current findings regarding the occurrence and   nature of the marketing-based MEE are somewhat limited, often equivocal and subject to some important   limitations.The purpose of this thesis, therefore, is to underpin and extend the incremental development of first-principles mere exposure research in the marketing domain. To this end, it provides a comprehensive review of both the state of current psychological understanding and the degree to which it has been applied in the marketing literature, prior to a robust examination of the existence, size and nature of this phenomenon in a marketing context. This is achieved by marrying the highly controlled experimental methods of psychological mere exposure research with the use of typical marketing stimuli, brand-related evaluation and a relatively large sample (as is common in the broader field of marketing research but not, as yet, with regard to the MEE in particular).The results of this empirical work are somewhat surprising and challenge previous assumptions regarding the influence of recognition memory and the direction of the exposure-induced affect-bias. Taken together, they support a ‘dual-processing’ model of mere exposure, incorporating two forms of the MEE that are underpinned by the processes of implicit and explicit memory respectively. This model has potentially significant implications for theory, practice and further research in the fields of both psychology and marketing; all of which are  discussed in the final part of the thesis.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Social facts and ethical hardware: Ethics in the value proposition

Providing a framework for integrating aspects of externally directed corporate and marketing communication efforts, this paper makes a case for the communication of positive and credible ethical values as a potentially critical component in communications strategy and sustainable competitive advantage. Using an uncertainty-reduction model adapted from the diffusion literature, it is suggested that appropriately communicated moral and ethical values can have a role in underpinning an organisation’s reputation and “trusted capacities”, thereby heightening confidence in likely future actions, offering a predictive mechanism for lowering uncertainty in market transactions, and facilitating a potential to trade by offering a rationale for an organisation’s secure market position. Underpinned by ethical principles, the paper proposes implications for the role of “reputation for trustworthiness” and its symbolic evocation. It is argued that a reputation can become accepted as a social “fact”, able to endure critical interrogation in its social environment