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Heprinted trom the UecemDer 1 y5a tssue o> I Quirk's Marketing Research Review, { The importance of context in conducting Asian research by Sandra M.J. Wong Cditar's note: $andru Wnn t. Ph.D.. is research dirrrtorat Asian Marketing Cnmrnunicatinn Rescarch. Belmont. Calif. W hat does "contexi" have to do with Asian marketing research? Context in tnany Asian cultures can affect the way you conduct marketing research for that population/community. Specifi- cally, this article will look at how context affects: • selectintt of appropriate research sample/respondents; • framing of questions to effectively gather meaningful information: and • establishing a productive researcher/respondent relationxhip. The goal of marketing and customcr satisfaction research is to provide your clients with in.sightful analy.is so they can make effective business decisions- W e al I know careful plann ing i s essential to maxim ize the bcncfits or research, but in our fast-paced business world, it's common for both client and re- searchcr to rush from one project to another. Yet how many times have wc said to oursel ves, "We would n't have to do this'rework' if wc just took a little time to plan. Next timc, wc will take the time and do it right'." Such common sense is even more important when conducting Asian marketing research. The rczcarcher often needs to consider addi tional nuances or complexities not always apparent in general tmvket research. Involving a culturally sensitive researcher early in the research planning stages can help avoid mistakes that people unfamiliar with Asian cultures commonly make. Context and respondent selection How do comcxt and Asian family rela- rionships add complexity to the selection process'? Suppose u researcher wants to talk to "heads of household" about making fi- nancial decisions. The rescarcher r,tndomly selects the Chinese residents of a particular three-unit Bay Area house. There are three names posted on the mail s[ots: Rose Lee is listed as occupant in the top unit: Ben Chan in the second: and the Fongs in the third. A rescarcher unfamiliar with Chinese family structure might conclude there arc three separate, distinct families from which to gather data. This appearance is quite mis- leading, however. On closer examination it turns out the residents of the three units are all related to each other in some way. Rose Lee, a retired widow, lives in the top unit. Lee is Rose's maiden name, and she married into the Chan family- She and her husband were [he original owners of this house. The Chans (that is, Rose and her late husband) have two sons and a daughter, all of whom still live in this house. Although the titlc of the house was transferred to both of the sons after their father's death. they sti I l regard thcir mother, Rose. as the offi cial head of the household. Rose cu rrently l i ves w ith four othcr people in her household unit: her unmarried cot- lege-age daughter Amy, her youngest son John, his wife Linda, and their baby son. Linda is responsible for the household's ~rocery shopping and cooking. Linda orga- nizes the menus and manages the task of running a home. Rose's college-age daugh- ter Amy helps with the cooking as needed. Rose delegates the tasks of buying presents December 1993 3

mid clothing to Amy. Because of her artistic flair and "good taste." Amy is usually consulted by all the women in this house when it comes to fashion - for woinen, men or children. The second unit is occupicd by Ben Chun (the oldest son), his wife and their two ,choolage children. Ben has man- aged the family business since his father's death. B en is in charge ol'alI the fami ly's business and financial decisions, including repair and upkeep of the house. If his younger brother John (who lives in the top unit) has any inten ; tion of making financial in- vestments or big-ticket pur- chases (e.g., an automobile), Ben must approve these plans, How- _ ever, the younger brother John and his wife Linda are respon- siblc t'ortheirown personal check- ing and savings accounts. The third unit is occupied by Mr. F ong and his wife. Mrs. Fonz is Rose's sister. The Fong. re- cenrty emigrated from flong Kong.They attend Engllsh classes Rose Chan (Lee), daughter Amy. Another way in which context atfccts Top unit: youngest son John, daughter-in-law Linda, baby boy Second unit: Ben Chan, Ben's wlfe, Swo school-age chitdren Mr. and Mrs. Fong Third unit: and are working part-time as a waitcr and a cashier, respec- tivcly, nearby. They keep what little money they save at home, not in a bank. The Fongs dine with Rosc and her household every night. Currently they are dependent on kose's financial help until they become self-sufficicnt. This case illustrates an intricate web of Chinese familial ties which challenges a rt:seurcherto use care when selecting respondents. Whether researchers treat the occupants of the three units as onc extended family or four separate families depends on the research they wish to explore. It is obvious from this particu lar fami Iy structure that "head of household" does not necessarily equal "decision maker." Ft a ll depcnds on whai decisions need to be made, because the person who makes the decis ions changes from one contezt to the next. Forexampic. il'a financial institution wants to leant more about consumers' opinions on savings account and cred it card service. Ben Chan or his younger brother lohn are both good candidates. I iowever, if the financial institution is interested in learning about business loan decisions, Ben is the better candidate. But if researchers insists on speaking only with the nominal head of household, they may end up with kose. whods not the real decision maker in this instance. Sirnilarly, if e packaged-food company is intcn:sted in food- purchasing behavior, then Rose's youngest daughter-in-law wnuld be a very know ledgeable candidate. On the otherhand. if a retailer is interesteti in clothes-shopping behavior, then Rose's college-age daughter Amy would be the most appro- priate respondent. Therefore, in determining the "right" respondents for a particular research projcct, be aware of the various roles. responsibilities and authority levels in an Asian family. W ith an understanding of and sensitivity to the world as the Chinese live it, a knowledgeable researcher can design the proper framework to screen for appropriate respondents. When this doesn't happen, researchers risk gathering infor- mation from the "wrong' respondents and generating con- clusions based on invalid data. Asian marketing research is how a tions used to gather mean- ingful and useful infotmma- tion. Asian respondents of- ten need to understand the con- text of a question before they can fully respond. The respondents use context as a filter through which they structure their "real- ity.' IIf researchers don't pro- vide a recognizable context, the respondents will either redirect the question, answer in ways that give no real information, orcre- ate a context in order to respond. The obvious danger is that re- searchers may get information that reflects issues other than those sought. Short and abrupt answers in tttemselves do not necessarily mean respondents are unwilling to engage in discussion. The respondents may, in fact. be signaling you that they can't relate to the framework as presented. The researcher needs to be perceptive enough to realize when his or her cultural construct or template has no meaning - or a significantly different meaning - for the respondents. Furthermore, the same cultural template may have different meanings among the subsegments of the same ethnic group. Let's say you are preparing research on behavioral patterns ofparents' leisure time with ch ildren. One widespread Amcri- can assumption is that people value spending time with their families on their days off from work. The interpretation of "spending time with family" means passing time with one's spouse and children. Another assumption is that "good" parents are involved in theirchi ldren's cxtracurricular activ i- ties. A common scenario has the parents taking their kids to a Littlc League game, then barbecuing at home with a few friends and their children, This American cultural construct has different degrees of relevance to various subgroups of the Asian segment. While the more acculturated Asian-American families can relate comfortably to this concept, it's quite unfamiliar to many recent Asian immigrant familic,. If the less acculturated Asian is your target audience, but your research design is based on the aforementioned assumptions, you would be presenting a cultural construct thai s not relevant to your intended audience. "Spending time with the family" holds a very different meaning for many Chinese immigrants. They would more likely interpret this concept as getting together Framing questions in relevant contexts researchcr frames the ques- Ouirk's Marketina Research Review

7 social1y.with members of their extended familie., (parents, siblings, aunts, unclcs, cousins,etc.) than to doing things with just their spouse and children. Moreover, the concept of "good parenting" for many Chinese parents doa, not include involvement in their children's sport% activities. Many of them regard children's play and adult leicsure as distinct activities, to be done separately or in parallel, rather than together. A good research design allows for the emergence of different cultural constructs and meanings during the data- gathering process. Thc sk i llful researcher is constantly listen- ing for shifts in orientation, perception and meaning. When these shifts occur, researchers must give themselves the freedom to adjust the research. Sometimes this means pilot- ing a survey instrument to check on word/concept'tnterpreta- tions and contextual clues before full-scale implementation. Other times it means allowing the researcher to redirect the discussion and pursue the respondent's own categories of meaningand interpretation. Researchers should always strive to make explicit the respondents' own cultural constructs, from which thcy make sense of the world. In this way, the client gains deeper insight about behavioral patterns and motivational qualities of the Asian consumer. Context of the researeher-respondentrelationship i-iow much and what kind of information is disclosed also depends on the respondent's assessment of the context of the research environment itself. This context consists of the researcher's own assumptions and mcanings; the respondent's perception of the researcher's expectations; and the rapport built between the two people. While this is true with all research, it is particularly salient in Asian marketing re- search. If an Asian person feels the rescarcher really can't relate to the respondcnt's worldvicw non-judgmentally, the respondent often will answer briefly, with whatever answer she or he thinks will terminate the questioning. When the respondent feels the researcher is sincerely open to leaming about the complexities and nuances of his or her world, a more complete, valid and useful explanation of the situation will cmerge? For example: During research on behavioral patterns of Chinese immigrant famil ies. respondents were asked to name their family members. What seemed like a straightforward question turned out not to be so simple after all. As one respondent patiently explained, "It all depends. Are you asking about my spouse and children, the family I was born into, the family I grew up in. the fatnily I married into, or the people who currently live in my household?" This respon- dent had five distinctly different meanings for the concept of "family." Respondents' answers often depend on the perception of the context of the relationship between the inquirer and respondent. Forexample, if the respondent feels a researcher is hurrying to gather basic demographic data and appears to be i mpatient with the extended A sian fami ly composition, the respondent might just briefly describe the nuclear family of spouse andchildren-If the respondent was approached by her Oecember7993 father-in-law's Chinese bu.incss associate, however. she would likely mention the members of the family into which she married. If she was approached by someone from her father's vil lage, she would probably talk about the family into which she was bom. If it's important to fully undcrstand the various meanings of "family" among Chinese immigrants, a researcher first needs to know that"family ' is an importantcultural construct for this group; then the researclter must demonstrate to the respondent a genuine desire to learn about the complexities of his or her worldview. Finally, the researcher needs to probe deeper i nto the various circumstances under which the differ- ent fonns of family are discussed. Without patiently cxplor- ing the various configurations of the family strucmre, the researcher would erroneously conclude there is only one meaning and definition of the Chinese family. The resulting analysis and recommendations are, at best, flawed. Summary In summary, our job as researchers is to conduct a mean- ingful analysis based on a picture from the respondents that's as unbiased as possible. While we may notbe able to remain totally objective, we are responsible for managing our sub- jectivity. Not all of the assumptions that work in the general market can be directly transferred to the Asian market. The importance.of context in Asian cultures affects the imple- mentation of Asian research in at least three ways. First, context can introduce some complexities in the selection of the appropriate respondents for various research projects. Secondly, during the data-gathering process the researcher must frame the questions in contexts that are relevant to the respondents, in order to facilitate meaningful discussion. (The inclusion of a culturally sensitive researcher in the planning stages of Asian marketing research can help avoid many cultural mistakes.) Finally, establish ing a good rapport with the A sian respon- dents also is crucial to success. When the researcher demon- strates a real desire to "resonate' with the respondents' values and meani ngs, the respondents often wi ll teach the researcher about imponant dimcnsions of their world, The researcher is then able to clarify the overlapping psychological, social and cultural frameworks the respondents use to relate and inter- prct their world?'[he skillful researcher is able to capture the respondents' "picture of reality" and can communicate these "frames' so that others can understand their unique points of view, d I.See Hall, E.T.. Beyond Culture, New Yrrr-k: Artchnr Bnok.NDnuh)eday, 1977. 2 See Ar,qyis. C.. Intervention Theory and Method: A Behavioral Science View, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesiey, 1970. 3 See Felipe and Betty Ann Karzenny, "Psycho-socirn c'ulttn'al Hispanic Kesem•ch," Quirk's Marketing Research Review, Vnl. Vl. Fehruar.• 1992. 5