ABSTRACT
Consumer research draws on different base disciplines. The philosophical approaches and the methodologies used to accrue knowledge are consequently diverse. This diversity in the approach and methodology adopted by various researchers leads to a divergence in beliefs about what is appropriate and what is not. This chapter provides a summary of the different perspectives that have dominated consumer research. It highlights how these approaches can be used to develop knowledge in a particular area. Using the area of “narratives” as an example, this chapter documents how the application of both positivistic and constructivist methodologies has led to substantial knowledge gains in this area. The steps that researchers coming from different philosophical traditions take in building a research study are also described using an example of an under-researched topic–stories about scarcity that come from marginalized consumers.
