Uncovering Market Positioning Coordinates Using In-Depth Interviews. Evidence from the Romanian Modern Retail

Market positioning is not anymore just an outcome of the marketing endeavour but actually the essence of it. Organisations must develop and implement proper market positioning plans if they want to pursue an enduring existence. In this direction, an organisation must perform a brand situation analysis, its results being the starting point of a successful market positioning. This analysis entails collecting data about the brand and its competitors being performed through various qualitative and quantitative research methods. The current study focuses on the use of in-depth interviews, a very important qualitative research instrument, in collecting data necessary to build a market position in the form of inconspicuous consumer behaviour factors, such as perceptions, attitudes and motivations. The peculiarities and advantages of this tool are detailed in an analysis of the Romanian modern retail. The findings through their richness made possible configuring market positions for several companies under study. There is no doubt about the effectiveness of this tool in collecting essential data for an effective market positioning. However, in some instances an organisation might need data of quantitative nature in making market positioning decisions, situations in which the use of the indepth interview should be complemented with a survey.