Widen your research with these suggested journal articles. Links to SAGE articles have been provided freely.

1. Cayla, Julien, Robin Beers, and Eric J. Arnould (2014), “Stories that Deliver Business Insights,” MIT Sloan Management Review, 55(2), 55–62.

Using examples such as Ford and Mustang, this article explains how ethnography is essential to consumer relations. Firms often use storytelling to appeal to their target market, making use of sentimental or iconic imagery tied with their products to invoke an emotional response. Understanding how their consumers live, work and play also helps companies develop strategies to further connect with consumers

2. Horst, Peter and Robert Duboff (2015), “Don’t Let Big Data Bury Your Brand,” Harvard Business Review, November, 2–9.

This article explores how CMOs (chief marketing officers) face the challenge between making immediate changes based on big data research to drive profit margins and choosing to adopt more long term solutions such as building brand equity and familiarity with the brand. Analytics have become a huge part of what drives companies today and here the authors use their own experiences in marketing to discuss both the pros and cons of this.

3. Zaltman, Gerald and Robie H. Coulter (1995), “Seeing the Voice of the Customer: Metaphor-Based Advertising Research,” Journal of Advertising Research, 35(4), 35–51.

In this article, authors Gerald Zaltman and Robie Coulter offer the reader seven ways to improve advertising research and copy development. With the use of the ZMET (Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique), the authors aim to understand how consumer behavior and thinking is motivated.