QRCA Views Fall 2023

Pet care is one of the most emotionally charged consumer categories, and today’s pet parents navigate a fragmented landscape of authority that includes veterinarians, peers, influencers, and digital platforms. Drawing on extensive qualitative research experience, this article examines how shifting trust dynamics reshape pet care decision-making—and why traditional research assumptions often fall short. Readers will gain a deeper understanding of how reassurance, habit, and lived experience drive behavior, and how qualitative researchers can adapt their methods to generate more accurate, humane, and actionable insights in pet care. […]

There is increasing demand for user experience (UX) research, and qualitative researchers’ unique expertise in understanding human behavior can help bring this type of research to the next level. The author focuses on the use of three frameworks that explain the “whys”—and this understanding is equally significant when consumers are interacting with technology as when they interact with other products and services. The author provides examples that have proven to be very useful in her experience exploring customer journeys within shopping apps and streaming platforms. […]

Book reviewer Paula Rosecky, who is both a facilitator and coach, uses the context of a plane ride to share how Rethinking Users: How a Detailed Look at User Archetypes Can Change Your Outlook on EcoSystems, by Michael Youngblood, Benjamin J. Chesluk, and Nadeem Haidary, expands the reader’s view of user design. […]