Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Qualitative Research.

This Hyundai dealership came up with quite a clever commercial. It is viewed through a mock up “hidden camera” observing a salesman and customer interact. The images seen depict the two men as almost friends through the experience. Where often the process of negotiating the price of a car is hard and stressful, at Hyundai it is apparently not. More than this the commercial is the same thing as a form of Qualitative research known as participant observation. In participant observation research, the researcher observes the subject going about an activity clueless to the researchers presence removing any sort of bias.

This isn’t the only time that Hyundai has aired a commercial based on participant observation. A few months ago there was a commercial with a woman test driving a car. The car was a Hyundai but all logos were covered with tape and there was a hidden camera. The woman drove the car and proceeded to compliment it with no idea what the car was or that she was being filmed. After the car was revealed to her as a Hyundai she acted surprised as she was told that she had just been in a commercial. Why is such an effective commercial? The same reason it is so effective for research. There are no biases and it is completely candid.

Hyundai Commercial

No comments:

Post a Comment