INTERVIEW GUIDE

The theory and the research design create a foundation for the investigation on meaning of luxury in the mind of the consumer during a recession. The design of the research and the methods used has been discussed and now the research itself will be further described.

In line with the non-probability sampling technique, I, as the researcher, chose six respondents that I believed best met the requirements of the study (Shiu, Hair, Bush, &

Ortinau, 2009) and contacted them through phone. All of them agreed to participate in the research. They were approached with the same interview framework which consisted of a list of questions chosen as ideal to investigate meaning of luxury and the decision process of purchasing a car. The list of question was considered perfect to come to a conclusion that would answer the research questions. However, due to the semi-structured nature of the interviews, the interviewer was free to conduct conversations and ask questions considered appropriate at each time as well as change the wording, give explanation and ask for clarifications if the answer was not considered clear enough (Corbetta, 2003, p. 270). This might have resulted in different answers from respondents.

3.14.1 DESIGN OF THE INTERVIEW

Appropriate respondents were chosen to collect the data needed for the analysis. Consumers of luxury car brands in the years 2005 to early 2008 were chosen and they gave preliminary insights into the personality and the motivational factors that affect consumer behaviour before and during a recession. The theory was used as framework for the design of the interviews. The questions were designed to see results that can be connected to the theoretical aspects in mind and in the end will answer the research questions stated (Appendix 2).

The framework of the interviews was divided into chapters. The first chapter consisted of open-ended general questions which included demographic information, occupation and discussion about their relationship with cars since buying the first car.

The second chapter was structured in a way that made it easier to obtain the needed data but as stated before, the semi-structure nature of the interview enables the interviewer to conduct conversations and see if that leads to interesting information. It consisted of questions regarding the buying process and decision making when a luxury car was purchased in 2005 to early 2008.

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The third chapter aimed for seeking information about if there had been a change in decision making with questions regarding car purchase today, to see if the financial crisis had affected the buying process.

The forth and the last chapter consisted of questions about experience and attitude towards luxury brands, the change in consumption in Iceland in general and brands as a status symbol.

These questions were to give insights into the consumers mind and the meaning of luxury during a recession and to answer the question of how the financial recession has changed the meaning of luxury goods and the importance of signalling luxurious lifestyle.

The interviewees chose the time and place for the interview. The only requirements I did, as the interviewer, was that it would not take place in interviewees working hours or in their working place. This created a comfort zone for interviewees and a relaxed atmosphere which I believe had a good influence on the results of the interviews.

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4 EMPIRICAL FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

In this chapter I will show the conclusions of the qualitative research on the meaning of luxury in the mind of the consumer and the investigation of how a recession can change decision process of consumption. Six research participants (Table 4-1) were selected with a non-probability sampling method through personal networking of the researcher. The requirements for participants were that they had at some point during the years 2005 to early 2008 bought a car of a luxury brand. Participants were interviewed (June 2011) individually and the main purpose of the interviews was to see if there were similarities in experience, opinions and perceptions of changes in consumption between the participants. The information were then used to investigate if and how the meaning of luxury has changed during the recession in Iceland, and how the recession has changed the decision process of a car purchase.

When analyzing the data, patterns soon started to emerge which then were formulated into themes most relevant to the research. Themes that emerged from the investigation will be presented here and discussed and the data analyzed. The theoretical framework gives background to which the findings can then be compared. Since the research is of qualitative nature as opposed to a quantitative research the data is non-numeric. The amount of data transcribed from the in-depth interviews is tremendous and every single detail of the interviews cannot possibly be explained. I therefore, as the interviewer had to evaluate and choose the themes I thought were most relevant.

Table 4-1. The interviewees

Because of how much easier it was to purchase an expensive car in Iceland before the financial recession, it is an interesting subject to investigate, that is to say if before the

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financial recession the purchase decision of a luxury car was less thought of and more of a meaning based decision and furthermore if it has moved to a more information based decision today, because of the financial recession.

With these thoughts in mind the themes chosen most relevant are “Culture and consumption”,

“Luxury as a lifestyle” and “Decision making process”. Since the change in meaning over time is being investigated all themes have comparison chapters of both before and during financial recession.