Convergent interviewing to build a theory in under‐researched areas: principles and an example investigation of Internet usage in inter‐firm relationships

TLDR

This study applies convergent interviewing to develop a conceptual framework of relationship constructs in an Internet environment and to illustrate its processes and strengths for researching under‑researched areas. The authors conducted convergent interviews with marketing managers and business consultants from ten service companies to explore Internet and relationship marketing. They conclude that convergent interviewing is more suitable than other qualitative methods for under‑researched areas with few experts, offering rapid issue convergence, efficient post‑interview analysis, and a clear stopping criterion, and may serve as a valuable tool for studying emerging marketing phenomena.

Abstract

This research used the somewhat new methodology of convergent interviews to develop a conceptual framework about relationship constructs in an Internet environment. More generally, this article describes and illustrates the processes and the strengths of convergent interviewing to investigate under‐researched areas, and compares it with alternative qualitative techniques like in‐depth interviews, case research and focus groups. The illustration involves interviews conducted with marketing managers and business consultants from ten service companies, about Internet and relationship marketing. It is argued that convergent interviewing is more appropriate than some other qualitative methods to investigate under‐researched areas where there are few experts because it provides a way of quickly converging on key issues in the area, an efficient mechanism for data analysis after each interview, and a way of deciding when to stop collecting data. Convergent interviews could become another useful qualitative research method to explore new issues about emerging marketing phenomena.