Projective techniques

Abstract

This chapter discusses projective techniques, an increasingly popular formative research method in social marketing. Projective techniques involve the provision of ambiguous and indirect stimuli such as images or stories to research participants to encourage them to project their own experience onto the stimuli. Projective techniques may also rely on participant-provided stimuli. In marketing and consumer behaviour research, five main categories of projective techniques have been identified: association, completion, construction, expressive and choice ordering. The case study included in the second part of this chapter showcases a research project that uses a construction technique, namely collages, to explore the sensitive relationship between alcohol consumption and sexual behaviour among university students.