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An executive summary for

managers and executive All research is interpretive!


readers can be found at the Evert Gummesson
end of this issue Professor of Service Management and Marketing,
Stockholm University, School of Business, Stockholm, Sweden

Keywords Business-to-business marketing, Research methods, Case studies


Abstract This article advocates recognition of interpretive elements in business research
and the need for improvement of the researcher's interpretive skills. The scientific
tradition specifically concerned with interpretation is called hermeneutics. However,
interpretation exists in all types of scientific studies, be they quantitative or qualitative.
The article presents lessons from hermeneutics and spells out the interpretive content of
research in general and with specific focus on business-to-business marketing.
Interpretive methods, when applied to business, are characterized by efforts to
understand the complexity of the business world and its products, services and markets,
and to add meaning to strategies, actions and events. A set of methods designated
interactive research is discussed. These are more inspired by the humanities, sociology,
anthropology and modern natural sciences than by the social sciences research paradigm
as it is currently applied in most mainstream research in marketing.

This is a brief and personal advocacy for interpretive research. It is based on


experience both as a researcher and a practitioner within business-to-
business (B2B) marketing. The article first presents my perception of
problems encountered in B2B research and practice and their dependence on
interpretive approaches. It proceeds to discuss the content of hermeneutics,
which is a general science and art of interpretation; the pervasiveness of
interpretation in scientific research and the pseudo-conflict between
quantitative and qualitative approaches; and, finally, my personal
methodology-in-use, interactive research.

Introduction
Let's stop fooling ourselves: All research is interpretive! No
ready-to-consume research results pop out like a soda can from a vending
machine once we have inserted sufficient money and pushed the right button.
There is interpretation all along, from the very start of a research project until
the very end.
Continue the metaphor To continue the metaphor, a vending machine is a standardized, mechanized
and, today, also computerized package of services. It has been possible to
assemble this package as all the elements and activities of its services have
been identified in detail and put together in logical sequences. It replaces the
human being who used to take the order, hand the soda over the counter, and
receive our money. The machine mirrors the behavior of a very
straightforward and simplistic service.
Some scholarly research has an affinity with the vending machine. It can be a
highly standardized procedure for the production of data and, if the
instructions are followed in every detail, out comes the desired product. The
closest to this is perhaps a customer satisfaction survey. All the same, the
results have to be interpreted. What does it mean that 73 per cent of our
customers are satisfied; is it good or bad? What decisions need to be taken;

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482 JOURNAL OF BUSINESS & INDUSTRIAL MARKETING, VOL. 18 NO. 6/7 2003, pp. 482-492, # MCB UP LIMITED, 0885-8624, DOI 10.1108/08858620310492365
how should the implementation of the decisions be handled; what will be the
reactions of the customers if we change our strategy; what will be the effect
on the bottom line; and how do we monitor these outcomes and make
amendments and improvements?
Complex research When we are dealing with more complex research questions, the vending
questions machine metaphor is insufficient. We have to act ad hoc, both manually and
intellectually, even if bits and pieces can be standardized. We have endless
options, none offering a self-evident choice. They all require judgment calls
and the major source to excellence is our own experience, wisdom and
inventiveness.
B2B marketing situations are often complex and thus demanding on the data
and knowledge you can generate. They require general knowledge of
markets and industries, such as market size and market share. But they also
require in-depth specific knowledge of what is going on in other companies
and who their individual executives and other actors are, their position,
power, personality and networks. In B2B environments both current and
future technology ± including design, engineering, manufacturing,
purchasing, installation, maintenance, repair, systems, software and the
surrounding services ± is the soil in which corporations grow and flourish.
B2B marketers often (but not always) need to be well versed in the
technology they are dealing with. Only with such knowledge can they select
strategies and become credible in sales and negotiations. The company's
position in its network of relationships to customers and lots of other
stakeholders ± own employees, own suppliers, intermediaries, competitors,
allied partners, governments, investors, the media and others ± influences the
actual marketing of its products and services. Furthermore, this network is
continuously pulsating and on the move. All this is equally evident, even if
the company is small and local; it only occurs on a more limited scale.
Meaning of single concepts This is a situation where marketing knowledge can only in special respects
be built on surveys and detailed studies of the meaning of single concepts
± such as commitment and trust ± and statistically significant
cause-and-effect links. B2B firms live with complexity, ambiguity, chaos,
uncertainty, fuzzy boundaries and continuous change in both technology and
the marketplace. Research methodologies have to adapt to this reality.
We must keep in mind that the core of business is production and
marketing/sales. A company should offer something of value to the market
and society, and to do so it is necessary to know your customers, feel what
the market needs, promote the product or service, and make sure it is
accessible to customers. All the rest is peripherals and supporting services.
Crucial role Despite its crucial role, marketing and sales seem to have lost much of their
clout in corporations ± or perhaps they never had any. The peripherals
finance, accounting and information technology stand out as ``winners''.
They have taken power, but unfortunately not when it comes to sustainable
development of the business world, a sad fact we can note in the media every
day. Although most companies confess to the marketing concept claiming
they are customer-centric with customer needs and customer satisfaction as
their prime goal, few seem to act that way.
On the academic side, one explanation to this state of affairs can be that
research in marketing rests on a narrow range of research techniques
capturing superficial phenomena and details and is therefore not perceived as
valid in supporting marketing practice; and that marketing education and
``textbook theory'' still primarily rest on a business-to-consumer (B2C)
paradigm (Gummesson, 2001; Minett, 2002). Explanations on the business

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side can be that industry is too focused on short term profit and is unwilling
to pursue long term goals; demands ``facts'' and quick-fixes where there are
no such wonder pills; and has deeply rooted but obsolete cultures with, for
example, an unfortunate attitude to customers and competition.
As should be obvious by now, my stance is that all types of research, not
least in B2B marketing, rely heavily on interpretation. An approach to
interpretation will be discussed in the next section.

Hermeneutics
One way (but not the only way) of dealing with interpretation is to lean on
the art and science of hermeneutics. The word hermeneutics is derived from
the name of the Greek God Hermes (in Rome called Mercury). Hermes had
many responsibilities, among them as the guardian of language and texts
± and of business. Hermeneutics is a general methodology for interpretation.
As interpretation is inherent in all human effort to understand the world,
specific aspects of interpretation appear in all types of research, although it is
most often perceived to be typical of qualitative approaches. It will be shown
in the next section, however, that it equally well embraces quantitative
methodology. The section is based on Gummesson (2000) and greatly
inspired by OÈ dman (2003) and his work to sort out the characteristics and
strategies of hermeneutics.
Prerequisites for social life Languages and words are prerequisites for social life. We give names to
things and events to help understand them and to communicate with others.
In this flow of spoken and written words, observations, feelings and
thoughts, interpretation becomes part and parcel of our daily routine.
Hermeneutics wants to help us find meaning, and it reflects what a
businessperson does in his or her practice. Hermeneutics is also concerned
with the interpretation of non-lingual expressions of human life, where the
researcher tries to transform tacit knowledge into words.
In the extension of interpretation, hermeneutic processes also embrace
preunderstanding, understanding and explanation. Preunderstanding is what
we know about the phenomenon of study when we start out on a research
expedition; understanding is the (hopefully) improved knowledge we come
up with as a result of our research. Explanation is usually claimed to require
unambiguous cause and effect relationships established through numbers, but
as business life is in many ways ambiguous, softer and more transient
explanations are required in practice.
Preunderstanding to The hermeneutic circle states that in a research project we move from
understanding preunderstanding to understanding, where understanding from phase 1
furnishes the preunderstanding for phase 2, and so forth. There is thus an
oscillation between what we knew and what we have learnt. But it is also a
pendulum movement between the parts and the whole, where we can only
give meaning to the part if we can put it into a systemic and holistic context.
If we take the statement ``Your bid on the contract is too high'' it means
nothing unless we know what the bidding is about, what the competition is
bidding, what the customer can pay, how valuable our offering is for the
buying organization, and how urgently the seller wants a contract. There may
even be hidden agendas that the experienced negotiator is able to sense and
interpret.
One way to consider the whole context in B2B research is to approach
marketing as networks of relationships in which interaction takes place
(Gummesson, 2002). A network view has been advocated for decades both
by a large community of European and international researchers and to some

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extent also in American research. The network view has turned out to be a
most powerful aid for discovery. It is not only reflected in B2B research but
also in the broadened approach to relationship marketing and CRM.
Research as a dynamic To stress the research as a dynamic process, the circle is better described as
process the hermeneutic spiral. Research should not stay put as a flat circle but
should be an upward spiral in which we interpret and re-interpret data in a
never-ending trial-and-error process of both theory generation and theory
testing.
There is a thin line between our everyday efforts to understand and take
action on one hand and scientific research on the other. What then
differentiates hermeneutics from mere day-to-day practice? The difference is
rather a matter of degree and transparency. There are no rules in the
bureaucratic, legal and statistical sense but there is advice and there are
research strategies and guidelines. Here is a brief listing.
The hermeneutic spiral has already demonstrated the need for consistency
and coherence between parts and the whole and that research is a
never-ending process toward improved understanding. In this spirit, the
researcher should demonstrate ability to handle texts in a broad sense,
including both words and numbers, and do so through systematic and
conscious effort. The researcher should further be constructively critical to
data and its sources, consciously striving to avoid speculation and bias from
one's own ideology and pet ideas. Data should be accounted for in a
transparent, rich and complete way and not leaving out contradictory data.
This strategy takes readers closer to reality, but a mere detailed description is
not sufficient; the account must offer conceptualization and condensation or
the researcher has not contributed interpretation and meaning. To increase
credibility, the researcher should offer possible alternative interpretations
and argue both for and against them. Academic research should be published
and be open to the public, but even if the research is proprietary through
commissioned assignments or internal investigations, it needs to be
communicated to its target group through words. An important scholarly
virtue is also to be cautious and pay attention to the accuracy of details.
Interpretation process Interpretation cannot be taken over by computers even if software for
treating qualitative data can facilitate research. One of the best-known
software packages is NVivo (formerly Nudist), which can increase speed and
efficiency of the interpretation process (see, for example, Bazeley and
Richards, 2000, but as the software is continuously refined, a visit to Web
sites, for example, www.qsrinternational.com is recommended). The
software can store data in an orderly way, provide structures and hierarchies
of data, perform certain analytical tasks and respond to questions that the
researcher puts to the data. Software assists, but does not take over
interpretation. Interpretation requires subjects ± researchers ± and their
ability to continuously fine-tune their skills with each research project. The
approach thus is not just tied to an objective or intersubjectively approved
procedure, but also rests inside each individual researcher as a professional
scholar. Game and Metcalf (1966) even advocate ``passionate sociology''
where the good sides of subjectivity merge with the good sides of objectivity.

Interpretation and the red herring of the quantitative vs qualitative


pseudo-conflict
Whether we use numbers (quantitative) or words (qualitative) in our research
is unimportant per se. Mathematics, statistics, formal logic and computer talk
are artificial and condensed languages, which can sometimes help us see
things, sometimes not. The spoken and written language is less precise but

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far richer ± not to mention the non-verbal language of such subtle signs as
gestures, facial expressions and symbolic objects. This wealth of fuzzy data
is bewildering and leaves us with uncertainty. But so do numbers, even if
they pretend certainty or at least controlled uncertainty in the form of
probabilities (risk). Both numbers and words require interpretation. By
polarizing quantitative and qualitative research, a red herring is introduced
and our attention is taken away from the real issue, namely the choice of
research methodology and techniques that support access and validity. How
do we get access to reality and how do we get results that are good fits to
reality? Both depend on how we generate, analyze and interpret our data, be
it numbers or words. Statistical tables need interpretation just as badly as
data from in-depth interviews and focus groups.
Research edifice Figure 1 shows the construction of the research edifice. All research starts in
the basement with the researcher's paradigm and preunderstanding. Here we
make a mixture of subjective, intersubjective and objective choices and
assumptions, such as what to research, which research questions to ask, how
to find an answer, and in marketing that a market economy is better than a
planned economy. These are mainly qualitative assessments representing our
interpretation of the world. They can be very personal, but also be embedded
in the research culture of the environment and the discipline and be
influenced by objective knowledge.
If we press the elevator button to the middle floors of the research edifice, we
find ourselves confronted with data generation, analysis and interpretation. I
prefer the term data generation to data collection, as data in social settings
are not objects that are ready for collection. Instead data are generated,
meaning that they are the creation of the researcher in interaction with, for
example, a respondent in an interview. It means that even at this early stage
of the empirical research, the researcher is treading the path of analysis.
Researchers may choose the numbers track in the belief that they can then be
entirely systematic and rigorous. But even here there are a series of

Figure 1. The research edifice

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intersubjectively agreed assumptions to lean on, and in the process of the
research, judgment calls have to be made. On these floors, data should also
be conceptualized and compared to extant theory and other research. If the
goal is theory generation, the researcher has conceptualized the data and
compares them with extant models and theory, or it remains mere description
leaving the interpretation to the reader and listener.
False security One example of false security in data generation and analysis is offered by
surveys in which questions are sent to businesses (usually with structured
response alternatives) to find out, for instance, how marketing planning is
done in a B2B setting, how decisions are made on strategies to retain
organizational buyers, how the key account managers operate, or what
technology can offer in the future. A lower and lower response rate of 10 per
cent or even less is currently considered adequate ± but only
intersubjectively, not objectively. These scattered slices of data are accepted
as amenable to statistical treatment. The explanation I have received for this
acceptance is that businesses are reluctant to respond for lack of time,
supported by a feeling that the questionnaires are of little import. In my view,
therefore, it is the application of the technique that is at fault. It does not
offer proper access to reality and consequently cannot offer valid results. The
numbers that come out of it are incomplete and distorted, even if checks on
the non-responses are done. The survey does not penetrate complex and
ambiguous issues; it only touches some spots on the tip of the iceberg. It can,
of course, be combined with other sources and techniques to add to
completeness, but the survey may only just be a costly detour with little
value added. Interpretation is not made possible for want of reliable data.
We finally arrive at the top floor, the penthouse. Here the research data,
results and conclusions are presented in written and oral form. If the research
is focused on action, the researcher could make recommendations and then
those concerned have to make decisions, execute decisions, monitor the
outcome and make amendments. Whether the research is aimed at academic
theory generation and testing, or is consulting or part of operative work to
solve a specific problem, interpretation is required. There are no simple,
objective formulas.
Truth is a myth In summary, Figure 1 shows that the completely systematic and objective
pursuit of the truth is a myth. The systematic and objective part is only a
fraction of the research, albeit sometimes a pivotal fraction. Interpretive,
subjective, intersubjective and qualitative elements are found throughout the
research edifice. Whether research is labeled qualitative or quantitative is
immaterial. There is no genuine conflict; we should use whatever tools are
best suited to assist us.

Interactive research
Far back I did a research project on professional B2B services, among them
management consultants, consulting engineers, accountants, advertising
agencies and business lawyers. Cases were made on how they marketed their
services and how these were bought by clients. A few of the cases included
interviews with all the major stakeholders, meaning the buying organization,
the consultant firm who got the assignment, and the competing firms who
lost. Within each group, several people were interviewed. It became blatantly
obvious that by just interviewing one party the information would be
incomplete and severely biased; the more parties interviewed the richer and
more complex the cases turned out to be. I learnt the importance of including
all interacting parties, but I hardly ever see this done in B2B research.
Interaction stood out as an intriguing variable and opened my eyes for its

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omnipresence and importance. This experience and others have formed my
current methodology-in-use and the decision to label it interactive research.
Grounded theory Interactive research encompasses a series of strategies such as case study
research and grounded theory, which are less prevalent internationally in
business school research but are frequently used in Northern Europe within
the Nordic School tradition of both services marketing and B2B marketing
(Gummesson et al., 1997). They will be briefly described below, but are
further elaborated on in Gummesson (2001).

Case study research


In case study research one or several cases are used to arrive at specific or
general conclusions about certain phenomena, recognizing the multitude of
variables, complex interrelations and ambiguities of business life. Case study
research provides the researcher with an input of real world data from which
concepts can be formed and propositions and theory can be tried. A case
study could be primarily inductive where the cases provide data for
conceptualization and theory generation, or primarily deductive where cases
are used to confront existing theory with reality and tests validity. Cases can
be selected and defined in many ways depending on the problem being
examined and the access and time and other resources available. The purpose
of case study research is usually systemic and holistic, to give a full and rich
account of a network of relationships between a host of events and factors.
Ideas of hermeneutics Case study research is sympathetic to the ideas of hermeneutics. The quality
criteria for quantitative studies, such as reliability and representativeness,
can only be applied to case study research if the cases include specific
quantitative elements. For example, a general rule for the number of cases
needed to draw conclusions cannot be set up. Anything from one case to
several, even hundreds, can be justified depending on the research purpose
and the research questions. The sample is theoretical and purposeful ± find
the cases that give a maximum of information ± and guided by saturation
± stop when the new information of additional cases approaches zero. A
single case study of a successful launch of new technology not only helps us
understand a specific case, but can teach us general lessons about marketing.
Minett (2002) advocates case studies as a tool to explain the soul of B2B
marketing. These studies can be used to observe the unique properties of
B2B marketing situations and learn for the future. In this way, B2B
marketing is tried on its own terms and not forced to be perceived through
the lenses of the primarily B2C based marketing management theory.

Inductive research and grounded theory


Four Ps Marketing as presented in textbooks is still very much based on marketing
management and consumer behavior research from the 1960s with its four Ps
(product, price, promotion, place) and marketing mix. B2B has entered
marketing as a special case although; B2B marketing is estimated to be at
least as big as consumer marketing, perhaps even bigger. B2B marketing has
partly been forced to interpret its reality from allegedly general concepts and
models derived from B2C marketing and which may or may not fit the B2B
environment. An unreflected choice of a deductive approach, without input
from live B2B activity, can therefore be highly deceptive. An alternative or
complementary strategy is inductive research. Simply put, inductive research
lets reality tell its story on its own terms and not on the terms of received
theory and accepted concepts.
I feel a strong commitment to inductive, empirical research, above all the
strategies to create grounded theory as developed by sociologists Barney

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Inductive, empirical Glaser and Anselm Strauss. Grounded theory strives to be realistic and valid.
research To start a theory generating research project by first designing clear-cut
categories and criteria in a complex and dynamic domain like B2B might kill
or mutilate reality. As long as the search is directed to an area of interest,
patterns will emerge with the gentle assistance of the researcher, not through
forcing (Glaser, 1992).
My interpretation of a recent book by Glaser (2001) is in line with Figure 1:
Take the elevator from the ground floor of raw substantive data and description to
the penthouse of conceptualization and general theory. And do this without paying
homage to the legacy of extant theory.
Quantitative research In doing this, the bewildering richness of data is received with cheers by
researchers and not shunned as disorderly and threatening as they often
are in quantitative research. Oddly enough, natural sciences ± which are
by mainstream social scientists, including researchers in marketing,
looked upon with envy as being rich in objectivity and orderliness ±
accept chaos, complexity and unpredictable change (see, for example,
Stacey, 1996). In his discourse on the application of lessons from natural
sciences to social sciences, Capra (2002) begins by quoting the poet
and ex-president of the Czech Republic Va clav Havel who says:
``Education is the ability to perceive the hidden connections between
phenomena''.
For the academic researcher it may seem inconceivable to be ``unpolluted''
by methods experience, received theory, a paradigm, and preunderstanding,
as this is his or her stock in trade, their ``knowledge equity''. The trick is, in
my interpretation, that those in search of grounded theory have to train
themselves to momentarily disregard existing knowledge while breathing in
new real world data. At a later step, new data are compared with extant
theory and a snowballing learning effect is achieved.
Social sciences literature Grounded theory is one of the most frequently cited methods in the social
sciences literature but it is clearly underused in marketing. Its concepts and
guidelines are not necessarily new or unique, but they have been coherently
organized and reached a high degree of completeness, combining theoretical
sensitivity, memos, comparative analysis, theoretical sampling, saturation,
open and selective coding, the identification of core variables, and the
generation of specific and general theory.

Anthropology/ethnography
The prevailing research strategy of anthropology/ethnography is
interpretation of data generated through direct or participant observation
supplemented by interviews and conversations. The research is systematic
and in-depth, documented not only in field-notes but also in photos, films,
audiotapes, and artifacts. Van Maanen (1982, pp. 103-4) makes the following
characterization of ethnographic inquiry in a specific culture:
It calls for the acquired knowledge of the always special language spoken in this
setting, first-hand participation in some of the activities that take place there, and
most critically, a deep reliance on intensive work with a few informants drawn
from the setting.
``Corporate anthropology'' is a viable research strategy in B2B settings. It
gives researchers access to where it happens. Characteristic of true
anthropology is the long periods over which a culture is studied ± several
months or years ± as compared to the minutes or hours allocated to
interviews in surveys. When a company and market is local and accessible,
the researcher can be reasonably present and register what happens.

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Companies that operate in many locations and global companies operating
around the world and around the clock, require careful selection of the points
of observation, since the marketing and sales staff are more often on the road
or in the air, in hotels, and at their client's premises, than they are in their
home base.

Management action research


Action research brings the researcher even closer to the object of study
than participant observation; in fact the researchers themselves become
both subjects and objects. Action research is reserved for situations when
researchers assume the role of change agents of the processes and events
they are simultaneously studying. In contrast to the mainstream
researcher who is expected to be serenely detached, the demand on the
action researcher is deep involvement. Management action research is an
application to the study of business phenomena. The action researcher is a
person who does scholarly research and is both an academic researcher
and either a marketing practitioner or an external consultant. His or her
purpose is twofold: to contribute to science and to help solve a practical
situation. By being involved, the object of study creeps under the skin of
the researcher in a way that is not possible in the study of documents or in
interviews, even in participant observation. The access is as close as can
be, and tacit and embedded knowledge can be uncovered.
Guidelines from Whether a study should be accepted as action research or merely as an
hermeneutics account based on personal and practical experience depends on how
systematic and reflective it is; it should be confronted with the guidelines
from hermeneutics. Action research should preferably be conducted in real
time, but retrospective action research should not be wasted by the marketing
community. There is a wealth of information stored in the minds of people
who have lived through important and often dramatic events with unique
access.
Further discussion on action research and action science is found in Clark
(1972), Gummesson (2000) and Coghlan and Brannick (2001).

Narrative research
Narrative research is concerned with the ways: ``. . . in which social actors
produce, represent and contextualize experiences through narratives''
(Coffey and Atkinson, 1996, p. 54).
Narratives are accounts ± stories ± about experiences, and they can take
many forms. There is usually an initial state of affairs, then actions and
events occur and there is perhaps a plot, and there is an end, at least a
temporary end and more rarely the definitive ``and they lived happily ever
after''. Narratives can be chronological but can also weave a web of events
around various themes or concepts.
Good story telling By presenting research as a story, we avoid the fragmentation that is
inevitable when we break down a statement in concepts and categories.
Minett (2002) consults with B2B companies using cases of successful
marketing to communicate with the general public and specific trades
through the media, but also to help a selling company better understand its
marketing. These stories must be told in a readable and condensed way or
they will not get published, nor get read by practitioners. They become story
telling and an informed interpretation of reality, but not fiction. Good story
telling is close to investigative journalism, but with proper research and
efforts to pinpoint the essentials of reality it becomes both a marketing tool
and an input to general understanding of B2B marketing. From a scholarly

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perspective, such stories must, of course, be critically scrutinized as they are
published in a company's self-interest. But so must interviews and statistics
provided to researchers from companies.

Summing up
Various interactions The approaches suggested above represent various interactions, such as
between the researcher and the object of study and its actors; between our
consciousness and qualities of our inner self; between substantive data and
general concepts; between the parts and the whole; between words, numbers,
body language and tacit language; and concurrent, non-linear and dynamic
interaction between data generation, analysis, interpretation and conclusions.
The elements of interactive research all strive to achieve close access to
reality and high validity. In addition, interactive research includes both
academic and practitioner interaction with audiences. By presenting research
approaches, concepts, ideas and results in a written and oral format, we test
our ability to interact with students, colleagues, CEOs, marketing managers,
salespeople, the media and others. Encounters with audiences are not merely
the end of a research program aiming to sell the findings. They also help us
in our effort to interpret.
In interactive research, theory generation and theory testing are twins and not
separate, consecutive stages. It is not a matter of doing conceptual,
qualitative pilot studies first and then ``do the real thing and go empirical''
by testing hypotheses with numbers. Through further theory generation and
within the spirit of hermeneutics, we build a helix of continued development
of knowledge. We go from preunderstanding to understanding to a new level
of understanding and so on, and from substantive, specific data to concepts
that serve as vehicles for reaching more general theory levels. In certain
phases, statistical deductive testing can enter, but the strategy is continuous
theory development, where improved or completely changed theories
constitute the test results.
Interpretive approaches Interpretive approaches with an interactive research strategy perhaps only
codify the best of common sense, insights, wisdom, sound judgment,
intuition and experience. But the differentiating factors between personal
everyday interpretation and opinion is the scholarly demands of being
systematic, connected to theory, and be as transparent as possible by
publishing the research and making it accessible for the academic
community and business.
Most of what has been said here has been written about before but not
specifically with B2B marketing in mind. Kuhn (1962) has advised us not
to be restricted to mainstream research and to realize that knowledge is
only cumulative to a point; then a paradigm shift is needed to build a fresh
scientific foundation. Grounded theory accentuates the dangers of
received theory that may block our minds to reality. Feyerabend (1975)
has told researchers not to be stuck in methodological rites and
technicalities, but to choose the tools best fitted to investigate the issue
being studied.
Ideal researcher The ideal researcher in business and marketing is an Indiana Jones hunting
hidden treasures and a Sherlock Holmes solving the mystery of The Speckled
Band. Both are researching, courageous and passionate explorers. Walking
in their footsteps, B2B researchers should not be bureaucrats and
administrators of regulated research rituals. They should be entrepreneurs
and their priority should be to find market treasures and to solve marketing
mysteries.

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In summary:
. Recognize that interpretive elements are influential and present in all
types of research and see them as an asset rather than a cross to bear.
. Get familiar and practice the paradigm represented by hermeneutics and
interactive research, as well as the accompanying methods and
techniques.
. Evaluate the research on its own terms with adequate criteria and not on
the terms of mainstream quantitative research.
. Accept the thrilling complexity, ambiguity, fuzziness and
unpredictability of B2B marketing and strive for more in-depth and basic
understanding of its mechanisms.

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