Association procedure

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Association methods are psychological survey methods based on association . In the field of market research they are used to record the psychological dimensions in relation to a specific product, in clinical psychology for diagnostics.

Psychological basics

An association is a conceptual combination of different memory contents. The creation of these thought connections occurs spontaneously and uncontrolled depending on the nature of the underlying stimuli ( sensory impressions ) and the process of their perception . As a result of several psychological investigations, these influencing variables could be specified in the so-called "laws of association":

  1. Law of contiguity ( contiguity theory ): With the increasing frequency of the common spatiotemporal occurrence of two stimuli and, as a result, the common perception, the link between this information in memory intensifies or is created in the first place.
  2. Law of similarity: With increasing similarity or contrast, stimuli are increasingly stored in a coherent manner.

In addition to the association laws, reference is made to the importance of the meaningful context of two experiences for their common storage. Information can be reproduced and remembered more easily if there is a logical and content-related connection between them. Market research tries to uncover the thoughts and feelings associated with a certain brand, product, poster, etc. in the consumer with the help of the association tests adopted and modified from psychological diagnostics . It is based on the experimentally verified premise that the terms (associations) uttered on a certain subject of opinion are neither random nor vary depending on the situation, but are determined by the existing connections of ideas.

However, the use of associative methods in market research is also based on further implicit requirements:

  1. The connections of thoughts measured by means of the expressed associations ( indicator function ) have an effect on behavior in a specific consumption situation.
  2. These associations of thought are immutable, at least for a short period of time.
  3. The respondents are not immediately aware of the mental links and therefore cannot be captured by means of a direct survey.

In general, the assumptions on which the associative methods are based have not remained without contradiction and have in some cases been severely restricted by experimental results. Nevertheless, these methods are of great importance in qualitative market research for various fields of study and are accordingly frequently used.

Generally applicable implementing rules

All of the associative methods used in market research use at least one initial stimulus that is related to the content of the subject of opinion to be examined or is identical to it. (An initial stimulus is a consciously chosen sensory perception given to the test subject.) The test subjects are asked to respond spontaneously to the presented stimuli with the first term that comes to their mind, if possible without long deliberation (see also opinion research ).

In addition to the order of the answers, time delays in the reaction to a stimulus can also be recorded using a tape recorder. In connection with the non-verbal / (non-linguistic) behavior of the respondents observed and recorded in the test situation, indications of the emotional inhibitions possibly associated with a stimulus can be obtained from hesitant or non-existent reactions. The value of this additional information is, however, controversial, because the lack of a psychoanalytic approach in the tests used in market research means that it is not possible to explain the content of the individual inhibitions. In this way, relevant judgments can only be made in the case of an accumulation that goes beyond the random scatter.

When using several output stimuli, the sequence of the stimuli is determined by means of a random mechanism in order to avoid systematic distortions. The list read out later consists for the most part of so-called "neutral" words, which are irrelevant for the question to be examined and the associated "key words". This is to hide the actual purpose of the investigation from the test subject in order to prevent deliberate manipulation of the answers.

To avoid unnecessary agitation and stress on the respondents, which can also lead to blocked answers, a few selected procedural rules are given:

  1. The initial stimuli should be easy to understand for the respondent.
  2. The test subject must be informed in detail about the requirements of the upcoming test, as well as that the answers are not rated as "correct" or "incorrect".
  3. The requirement for carrying out the test is that the test subject is in a situation that was not prepared in terms of content, i.e., for example, that there was no previous questioning about similar topics.

By means of these implementation regulations, an investigation situation is to be created in which the test subject is stimulated to "true" associations without excitement and stress in the most relaxed atmosphere possible. In addition to ethical requirements, there is the hope of avoiding deliberately manipulated statements and blocking of answers by the respondents. However, an association technique is also used, consciously negating these principles, to explore intimate and taboo issues.

Associative procedure

There are basically two different association procedures:

  1. Free association procedures
  2. Limited association procedures

The procedures differ in terms of the structure of the stimulus template and the openness of the response options. Both with the free as well as with the restricted association processes, in principle non-verbal stimuli can be used in addition to verbal ones.

Free association procedures

In psychoanalysis, the so-called “completely free association” procedure is often used, in which the respondent describes the thoughts that come to his mind without specifying an initial stimulus. This method is of no importance for market research, since the focus of the investigation is on the thoughts and feelings associated with a specific economic object and not the personality structure of the respondents. Thus, within the framework of the so-called "free association", the test subject has to react to at least one initial stimulus with several terms, which are to be mentioned in the order in which they become conscious. The chain of associations resulting from the successively (hence the designation of the procedure as "successive association") terms is only interrupted by the interviewer when the uttered words are obviously no longer related to the initial stimulus. The initial stimulus can be kept very general (e.g. “airplane”) or restricted to certain details (e.g. “discomfort when flying”). Using free association techniques, the entire experience surrounding an object of opinion can be captured.

Limited association procedures

In an investigation, it is often not the entire area of ​​imagination of a certain object that is of interest, but rather specific detailed problems, for example with regard to the usage situation of products. The results to be obtained by means of a free association are usually too general and unspecific for such tasks. For this reason, in the restricted association procedure, the number of responses is limited and a larger number of stimuli steer them in a certain direction.

Word association test

When using verbal stimuli, one speaks of the word association test , which is one of the best-known and most frequently used association methods. A list of 20 to 40 words is read out to the test subjects in quick succession, for each of which only one term, the thought that first became conscious, should be uttered. The increased reaction speed required by the respondents is intended to ensure the spontaneity of the answers and thus the disclosure of the memory content most closely associated with a presented stimulus.

Word association tests are also used in the context of investigations into intimate and taboo problems. Interesting terms function as key stimuli that the respondent normally does not mention in a conversation with a stranger or to which he would not react. The stress that is latent in an investigation situation due to the time pressure is consciously not alleviated by accompanying framework conditions, but used as a means to gain the innermost ideas and feelings regarding the object of interest.

Problems arise with this application: In clinical diagnostics , from which this application option was adopted, the implementation is largely based on the authority of the treating psychologist . In the context of market research, an interviewer will be less able to generate a similar willingness to answer. The conscious and targeted application of pressure on the test subjects in order to receive answers that are normally not given are contrary to ethical problems.

Object and image association procedures

In addition to the word association tests, there is the possibility of presenting non-verbal initial stimuli such as posters or packaging. Here, however, it is more difficult to limit the reactions to one word. In the image association method, the test subjects also tend to describe the object instead of expressing the feelings and thoughts associated with it. A well-known form of the image association method is the Rorschach test .

Sentence completion test

As part of a sentence completion test, the test subjects have to complete incomplete sentences read aloud as spontaneously as possible and without much thought. The sentences are based on a specific topic and each illuminate a different aspect. Compared to other association methods, the key stimuli can be formulated and directed more precisely with a sentence completion test, and the association process is made easier for people who are inhibited in communication. The beginnings of sentences are mainly used as initial stimuli, but sentences with a missing middle section can also be used.

The beginning of a sentence can be constructed relatively flexibly and is based on three principles:

  1. The beginning of the sentence relates directly to the respondent and is formulated in the first person, for example: "I am of the opinion ...".
  2. The beginning of the sentence refers to a third person, an impersonal form can be chosen: “People are of the opinion…” as well as a more personal one: “Their colleagues are of the opinion…”.
  3. The beginning of the sentence is completely impersonal: "Views and opinions are ...".

In addition, the initial stimuli can be differentiated in terms of their structure (slightly structured: “you…”, highly structured: “on my summer vacation I should…”).

Different formulations of the beginning of a sentence (positive, negative, neutral with regard to the object of investigation) allow the respective tendencies in the assessment of an object to be examined more closely. In order to avoid deliberately manipulated answers, sentence beginnings with the opposite tendency should also be incorporated as neutral stimuli. With the sentence completion tests, however, it is generally more difficult to hide the subject of interest from the respondents compared to the word association method.

Implicit association test

The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is a measurement method in social psychology . It is used to measure the strength of associations between individual elements of memory. The IAT is performed on the computer and is based on the idea that it is easier for people to respond to associated concepts with the same answer button rather than an opposite answer button. The IAT is mainly the implicit measurement of attitudes towards objects of self-worth ( self-esteem ), identity ( self-identity ) and the stereotypes , however, used is considered theoretically applicable to any memory content as long as they remembered in perceptual (visual ) or semantic format.

brainstorming

Brainstorming is a method of generating ideas in which thoughts associated with given topics are recorded. This method is preferably used in the entire field of advertising. However, it is also used in other areas, for example in product development or when designing new technical devices.

literature

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Individual evidence

  1. ^ Greenwald, AG, McGhee, DE & Schwartz, JLK: Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: The implicit association test. In: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1464-1480. 1998, accessed July 8, 2017 .