A Mauritian's qualitative brand communication research journey in the UK a cross-cultural perspective
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Abstract
Qualitative approaches to cross-cultural marketing communication Qresearch are usually recommended when the researcher lacks familiarity with the foreign environment under investigation (Malhotra et al. 1996, Burton 2009).Many qualitative researchers have shared their rich personal experiences of performing cross-cultural research in different cultural settings which have contributed to rich insights in the field of qualitative cross-cultural marketing- related research that is growing in importance in this postmodern era of increasing cross-culturality (Liamputtong 2010, Wang 2012).In this paper,the perspective of a Mauritian qualitative researcher considering himself as a "product of cross-cultural identity”(Liamputtong 2010,p.ix)and originating from a"polyethnic island state” (Erisksen 1994,p.549)is offered. The fieldwork involved in-depth qualitative interviewing of a sample population of elderly White British females living with arthritis as part of a study on charity brand communication. Discussion in this paper focusses on some specific cross- cultural issues relating to context familiarity,researcher-participant rapport and cultural representation. This paper is likely to be of particular interest to qualitative researchers of Asian and other cultural backgrounds envisaging cross-cultural marketing communication research for the first time in a British context.It is also argued that the issues raised might also be of relevance to cross-cultural qualitative research involving in-depth interviewing in an Asian context.
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