Explain qualitative research and why it might be useful to marketers. What are its major drawbacks?

What will be an ideal response?

Qualitative research techniques are relatively unstructured measurement approaches to permit a range of possible responses, and they are a creative means of ascertaining consumer perceptions that may otherwise be difficult to uncover. Because of the freedom it affords both researchers in their probes and consumers in their responses, qualitative research can often be an especially useful first step in exploring consumers' brand and product perceptions. It is indirect in nature, so consumers may be less guarded and reveal more about themselves in the process.

Qualitative research does have its drawbacks. Marketers must temper the in-depth insights that emerge with the fact that the samples are often very small and may not necessarily generalize to broader populations. And different researchers examining the same qualitative results may draw very different conclusions.