The ZMET Technique: A New Paradigm for Improving Marketing and Marketing Research

For decades, marketing and marketing research have been based on a concept of consumer behaviour that is deeply embedded in a linear notion of marketing activities. With increasing regularity, key organising frameworks for marketing and marketing activities are being challenged by academics and practitioners alike. In turn, this has led to the search for new approaches and tools that will help marketers understand the interaction among attitudes, emotions and product/brand choice. More recently, the approach developed by Harvard Professor, Gerald Zaltman, referred to as the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) has gained considerable interest. This paper seeks to demonstrate the effectiveness of this alternative qualitative method, using a non-conventional approach, thus providing a useful contribution to the qualitative research area.

How does ‘Newstainment’ actually work? : ethnographic research methods and contemporary popular news

Much debate has taken place recently over the potential for entertainment genres and unorthodox forms of news to provide legitimate – indeed democratized – in-roads into the public sphere. Amidst these discussions, however, little thought has been paid to the audiences for programs of this sort, and (even when viewers are considered) the research can too easily treat audiences in homogenous terms and therefore replicate the very dichotomies these television shows directly challenge. This paper is a critical reflection on an audience study into the Australian morning “newstainment” program Sunrise. After examining the show and exploring how it is ‘used’ as a news source, this paper will promote the use of ethnographic study to better conceptualize how citizens integrate and connect the increasingly fragmented and multifarious forms of postmodern political communication available in their everyday lives.

Information technology support to improved construction processes : inter-disciplinarity in research and practice

Research and innovation in the built environment is increasingly taking on an inter-disciplinary nature. The built environment industry and professional practice have long adopted multi and inter-disciplinary practices. The application of IT in Construction is moving beyond the automation and replication of discrete mono and multi-disciplinary tasks to replicate and model the improved inter-disciplinary processes of modern design and construction practice. A major long-term research project underway at the University of Salford seeks to develop IT modelling capability to support the design of buildings and facilities that are buildable, maintainable, operable, sustainable, accessible, and have properties of acoustic, thermal and business support performance that are of a high standard. Such an IT modelling tool has been the dream of the research community for a long time. Recent advances in technology are beginning to make such a modelling tool feasible.----- Some of the key problems with its further research and development, and with its ultimate implementation, will be the challenges of multiple research and built environment stakeholders sharing a common vision, language and sense of trust. This paper explores these challenges as a set of research issues that underpin the development of appropriate technology to support realisable advances in construction process improvements.

Built environment education and research : making connections

This conference is a landmark gathering of those from around the world concerned with the future of Built environment education and Research. It takes place at a time of great change and opportunity. Around the world the long-standing principles of what, how and who we teach for graduate entry into Built environment professions, is increasingly under review. The need for research and the way in which it is funded, conducted and knowledge shared is also under increasing pressure. Both changes are being triggered by a fast changing and increasingly challenging competitive environment for education and research. Competition for the highest quality of graduate entrants in the right numbers is becoming more intense. Competition between Universities, as funding for education and research comes under ever close scrutiny, is intensifying and we are all being forced to look for more effective and exciting ways of recruting, retaining, enhancing and maximising the achievement of our students and of our staff in their research activities. Competition amongst employees in industry is becoming more intense as professional employers increasingly recognise that people and knowledge are their key strategic resources. Universities are increasingly looking to partnerships with industry, the professions and other Universities to further improve their eduacation, research and innovation activities. These challenges are unfolding at a time of accelerating development in information technologies and systems and in our understanding of principles of knowledge management and pedagogical advancement. This environment presents both opportunities and threats to the world of education.

Critically evaluating rural women’s participation and empowerment : An interdisciplinary feminist framework for research and analysis

Community development is increasingly using participatory processes that aim to be inclusive and empowering. However, researchers have found that such processes can have contradictory effects. Australian research has highlighted the significant leadership of rural women in sustainable community and economic development and in the adoption of new communication technologies such as the Internet. A focus on gender in participatory development may therefore lead to more effective programs and policies. This chapter outlines an interdisciplinary feminist framework for critically evaluating the participation and empowerment of rural women. This framework was found effective in evaluating an Australian project that aimed to enhance rural women’s access to communication technologies and to empower its participants. Its multiple theoretical and methodological approaches are outlined. The framework advocates an analysis of diversity and difference and the macro and micro contexts. Some principles and strategies for rural women’s inclusion, participation, empowerment, and for participatory feminist evaluation are outlined.