Conducting online interviews with hard-to-reach hospitality industry participants

Abstract

Face-to-face interviews have long been a cornerstone of qualitative research methods, yet they can face hindrances, such as long geographical distances and budget limitations for travel to research sites. An alternative solution is the use of online interview techniques. Although studies have discussed issues related to conducting online interviews, challenges in interviewing hard-to-reach participants are still unexplored. In the context of this article, these participants are difficult to reach because they lack the technology required to con-duct online interviews and/or their contact information is unavailable. Additionally, there are also issues associated with conducting online interviews that make researchers doubt its ability to produce high-quality data. Based on fieldwork experiences, this research note discusses challenges that occurred during a series of online interviews with hard-to-reach participants in the hospitality industry. This study highlights that even though issues can occur, rich and meaningful data can still be generated from online interviews.