Understanding Unconscious Thoughts of the Self Imaginative Metaphor Elicitation Technique in Qualita

2.1. Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation (ZMET)

Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation (ZMET) is defined as a hybrid methodology that involves semi-structured, in-depth, personal interviews focused on visual representations that the participant contributes to the interview (Coulter et al., 2001). Understanding consumer’s deep thoughts and feelings more thoroughly requires analyzing non-verbal communications such as facial expression, physical gesture, attire and scent (Lee et al., 2009). In this respect, ZMET approach elicits the implicit mental images which represent the participant’s most profound thoughts and feelings about a research topic (Lee et al., 2009). ZMET not only maps the cognitive structure in people’s mind, but also elucidates the real meaning representations of these structures (Lagerkvist, et al., 2015). Since individuals’ deep thoughts and language are based on images, ZMET approach uses pictures that are produced by participants to explore hidden thoughts related to the concept under study (Lagerkvist et al., 2015). ZMET aims to examine metaphors that customers use in everyday language (surface metaphors) as a way to engage them and facilitate customers to articulate deeper opinions

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(Zaltman, 2008). “I feel like a prisoner in that store” and “My only way out was to buy something,” can be given as some of the examples of the aforementioned surface metaphors (Zaltman, 2008). These surface metaphors operate as evidence which facilitate the identification of a more profound and implicit understanding or viewpoint related to the topic in study (Zaltman, 2008). In this sense, they can be utilized by marketers or researchers to discover essential emotions regarding a topic. In this context, ZMET interview allows to capture consumers’ freely expressed thoughts and feelings related to the specified topic, as the data is informant-oriented rather than being researcher-oriented (Coulter et al., 2001). ZMET interview is based on the idea which considers metaphor as a central element of thought (Coulter, 2006). When the researcher desires to examine consumer behaviors but has little previous research as a reference, ZMET is suggested as a good choice (Lee et al., 2009). For instance, Coulter et al. (2001) examined consumers’ impressions of advertising and using metaphors. It has been discovered that, consumers attach positive metaphors to advertising (such as teacher, counselor, enabler etc.) and consider advertising as an entertainer and a stimulator for economic growth (Coulter et al., 2001). Similarly, Lagerkvist et al. (2015) used ZMET method to explore the content of consumers’ mental models related to food safety of vegetables. In a ZMET interview, the researcher introduces a topic/issue and asks the participant to collect images that

could reflect how he/she thinks about the topic (Coulter et al., 2001; Matheson & McCollum, 2008; Zaltman & Coulter, 1995;). After the participant collects images and brings them to the interview, the interviewer asks him/her to describe those images (Matheson & McCollum, 2008; Zaltman & Coulter, 1995). Then, the interviewer asks ZMET laddering questions which are used to explore metaphors deeper. These questions facilitate participants’process of gaining a clearer understanding of their thoughts and feelings (Matheson & McCollum, 2008). After the first image is examined using the laddering questions, another image is chosen for discussion. When the interview was completed, the researchers either kept the images that the participant brought or they took the photos of the images because these images would be used in the analysis to delve into the meanings of the interviewee’s statements. All interviews are transcribed and dominant themes are underlined (Coulter et al., 2001). Table below reflects the stages to implement ZMET technique by using 10 ZMET steps identified in (Zaltman & Coulter, 1995). Technique is used in a guided conversation which contains 10 steps. However, only a subgroup of these steps is implemented in any study and the inclusion of these steps to any study depends on the essence of the problem and the designed utilization of data (Zaltman & Coulter, 1995). Table below explains all ten steps (Zaltman & Coulter, 1995):

Table 1. Stages of Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation (ZMET) Stages

Generally, 20 participants are selected to participate to the study.

Guidelines and instructions related to research topic are explained to the participant. Then the researchers ask the participant to collect images that could reflect how he/she thinks about the topic (Matheson & McCollum, 2008). The aim is to examine informants’ thoughts, feelings, perceptions about the topic. The participants are informed that they could bring any kind of images that can be photos taken by them or images that are taken from journals, artworks, brochures, etc. A personal interview is scheduled for approximately seven to ten days later.

After the participant collects images and brings them to the interview, the interviewer asks him/her to describe those images (Matheson and McCollum, 2008). After the participants are informed about the format of the interview, there are 10 steps (stages) of the interview (Zaltman & Coulter, 1995; Hancock & Foster, 2020).

Then, the interviewer asks ZMET laddering questions which are used to explore metaphors deeper. These questions facilitate participants’ process of gaining a clearer understanding of their thoughts and feelings (Matheson & McCollum, 2008). This personal interview contains a guided conversation which takes approximately two hours and is recorded.

After the first image is examined using the laddering questions, another image is chosen for discussion. All interviews are transcribed and emerging themes are underlined.

Transcribed interviews might be transferred to a computer software program in an attempt to identify ideas mentioned in the interview. Interview transcripts are examined to discover frequent themes or constructs.

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Interviewer’s Guide Interviewing Techniques to ensure comprehensiveness: •

Laddering Questions Examples First question that digs deeper into the details of metaphor is, “How does this image relate to your thoughts and feelings about [topic of study]?” images (Matheson & McCollum, 2008). Example of Laddering Questions: What do you mean by [metaphor]? What does [metaphor] give you? For instance, if “genie in a bottle” is given as a metaphor reflecting weakness or inability, the researcher would inquire, how does the “genie in a bottle” relates to your thoughts and feelings about powerlessness? The respondent might answer that the genie was trapped in the bottle until the bottle was rubbed, so that genie could get away. From this statement, researchers can elicit some metaphors and key words such as “trapped”, “rubbed”, “escape”. Then, researchers might ask “What do you mean by trapped?” and they might examine the significance of the Word trapped since it was related to the metaphor selected by the participant. Meanwhile, the investigator analyzes how the metaphor is evolved, how it was conveyed, and what areas were still arising. In this sense, the interviewer chooses consecutive laddering questions based on what was said what would be said. Each image is talked over with the participant using the laddering questions until the investigator considers that the metaphor is completely analyzed. Generally, this happens when the informant says something to the effect of, “because I am,” “because I live,” “because I was born,” or the opposite, “because I would die,” “because I would be no longer,” or “because I would be gone.” Here, those declarations regarding life or death, being or not being are conveyed when the examination of metaphor has been taken to its end. When the initial image was investigated utilizing the laddering technique, the interviewee was invited to select an additional picture to discourse on. The identical laddering approach is utilized for all of the pictures and when apparent associations emerged between diverse images in statements of the informant, those were also discussed (Matheson & McCollum, 2008).

2.2. Forced Metaphor Elicitation (FMET)

Forced metaphor elicitation technique (FMET) is used to facilitate the emergence of unconscious assumptions and feelings about self and reveal how those beliefs and emotions are related to product and brand choices (Woodside, 2008). FMET involves the zoomorphistic representations of self and it aims to understand human behavior in terms of animal behaviors (Woodside, 2008). Specifically, participant selects an animal that carries the characteristics of him/her. Participants’ reports regarding the features and behaviors of these animals empowers the arise of the products and brands that can fulfill the needs of those features and behaviors. In fact, it has been suggested that most participants can easily identify the animal that represents themselves (Woodside, 2008). In addition, it has been emphasized that visual measures, unlike verbal measures tend to elicit a nonconscious, implicit knowledge (Woodside, 2008). For instance, a consumer’s inclination to buy a certain product might stem from her unconscious memories about her mother buying that product (Woodside, 2008). In this respect, Woodside (2004) and Woodside et al. (1986) suggested Forced metaphor-elicitation technique (FMET) to surface and analyze metaphors which are used by consumers implicitly. FMET involves four stages that base on a zoomorphistic explanation of self (Woodside, 2008). In a nutshell, participants mention two animals; first animal represents the participant the most, and second is the animal that participant would want to be. For example, a participant to study named Ana selected a small dog that represents her the most, as small dog is cute, fun and friendly. Those traits give information regarding which brands Ana can associate herself with. One such brand that Ana identifies is VW Beetle. On the other hand, the animal that Ana would like to be is a dolphin which is depicted by her as friendly, beautiful, playful, intelligent, and fast swimmer. The characteristics of dolphin matches with a brand that she admires Lexus RX Hybrid. Therefore, brands can

benefit from uncovering these characteristics in an attempt to associate with people’s zoomorphistic, unconscious desires.

2.3. Imaginative Metaphor Elicitation (IME)

Imaginative Metaphor Elicitation (IME) is an interviewing technique which creates knowledge on participants’ experiences and allows them to take an active role in resolving or handling their complicated situation. Imaginative Metaphor Elicitation (IME) has been used by Nardon & Hari (2021) in interviews to expedite sensemaking under exceptional and challenging occurences. Nardon & Hari (2021) indicated that IME helps to generate knowledge regarding informants’ experiences. They carried out interviews by using IME to explore 11 exhange and international students’ challenges throughout the Covid-19 pandemic in Canada (Nardon & Hari, 2021). In this respect, IME is used to create knowledge regarding their experiences while helping them solve the difficult dilemma that they were experiencing about the decision to stay or leave their then location (Nardon & Hari, 2021). This decision forced them to choose between different alternatives each consisting of diverse financial, emotional and social drawbacks and costs, eventually rendering them severely anxious. Here, they needed sensemaking of their situation, facing their own feelings and thoughts to make the best decision for themselves. In this sense, imaginative metaphors are priorly examined as valuable tools that can help individuals’ sensemaking in organizational studies. Sensemaking, which can be defined as a continuous achievement through which individuals generate their actions and try to make them reasonably accountable to themselves and others, is especially essential in turbulent and ambiguous situations such as Covid-19 pandemic (Gioia & Mehra, 1996; Weick, 1995). Clearly, Covid-19 pandemic has caused a considerable amount of changes influencing the labor market and work routines. These developments, such as the pandemic,

Table 2. Stages of Forced Metaphor Elicitation (FMET) Stages

Participant is invited to paint or choose pictures of the animal which first comes to mind and which depicts the characteristics of the participant.

Participant is invited to say or write several aspects that first come to mind which best depict that animal.

Participant is asked to tell the thoughts about all of these characteristics that first come to mind. In addition, they are invited to tell what these features tell about the participant.

Participants are asked to convey a story that demonstrate the concepts and depiction of the characteristics that he/she just indicated.

Participants are requested to repeat all of the FMET stages one more time but this time concentrating on the animal which first comes to mind and which is admired by participants. So participants must choose an animal which “might be selected if you were an animal.”

Participants are encouraged to think aloud what first come to mind when considering her/his own responses to the two sets of questions and to depict a personal anecdote that demonstrates the possible consequence after a comparison of the alternative selection behaviors.

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lead to disruptions in individual’s perspectives and abilities to make sense of new situations. Disruptions instigated by Covid-19 pandemic can be examined as “a sense-breaking situation” which includes a collapse of meaning (Nardon & Hari, 2021). Sensemaking explicates when encountered by conflicting occurrences how organizational members seek to negotiate and sustain meanings that facilitate rational reactions. Sensemaking generally refers to the processes by which individuals aim to comprehend vague or puzzling issues or events (Brown et al., 2015). In this respect, Nardon & Hari (2021) emphasize that researchers can use the researcher-informant interaction as an opportunity to facilitate the sensemaking of participants related to the topic in study. It has been suggested that, interviewers are able to affect the interview process to facilitate informants’ new understandings, so interviews are considered to possess a therapeutic influence rather than being an impartial interaction in which knowledge is transferred from informant to interviewer (Nardon & Hari, 2021). Therefore, by using IME, interviewers support informants to make their situation more tangible. Nardon & Hari’s (2021) approach of metaphor use resembles metaphor use in coaching situations but diverges from coaching by allowing informants complete control of the process. By applying Imaginative Metaphor Elicitation technique, Nardon & Hari (2021) utilized two types of metaphors to render the interviewees’ experiences concrete and easier to work with. First type of metaphor they used is the current way of being metaphor which is considered as a tool to help the participants to see themselves and their current situation clearly. The second type of metaphor is the alternative way of being metaphor to give them a vision related to possible alternatives which offers an alternative way forward, an alternative solution for the interviewee’s problem (Nardon & Hari, 2021). 2.3.1. The Process of Using IME Table 3 demonstrates an overview about how the IME technique might be used stage by stage. To give a detailed overview of the Nardon & Hari’s (2021) interview process, we explain how they used Imaginative Metaphor Elicitation (IME) in their study step-by-step: They initiated the interview by examining participants’ experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and developing a connection with them. After participants described the primary challenges, they pinpointed an objective or a desire to examine further. One of the participants, Tim, mentioned the challenges that he experienced, “I put in a lot of work, and I’ve gotten some good grades. I tried my best at school to get to the position that I want to be. And then, all of a sudden, it just feels like, boom. It had to end. Within a few hours, I had to, basically, pack up and leave. So, it’s the idea of not leaving on my own terms and not having the proper goodbyes that I wanted. So, that’s the hardest part”. After, the interviewer and the participant determined an

attainable objective or desire, which in Tim’s case is generated as “being better able to find satisfaction in virtual connections”. As soon as the goal is identified, a current way metaphor is elicited through questioning and encouraging participants to discuss the metaphor in detail. This stage is illustrated with the example of the participant named Emily. An Exchange student, Emily was distressed related to her decision to stay in Germany during the outbreak and identified her goal as being better able to make decisions and to be relaxed with the ambiguity concerning these decisions. Once she expressed her anxiety and identified her goal, the researcher encouraged her to experience the feeling of making decisions in an atmosphere of uncertainty and asked her about the images that came into her mind. Accordingly, she mentioned that a storm came to mind while making those hard decisions. Researchers asked probing questions that encouraged her to describe the storm more precisely: where she was in the storm, who was she in this storm, when there was this storm, what was she doing, was she watching the storm? By answering these questions, the informant could see her situation in a tangible way, which led her to understand her situation and her behaviors more clearly. With the researchers’ questions, she explained that she pictured herself as standing outside of the storm and that she was overthinking and feeling alone. As illustrated in this example, imaginative metaphors reveal behaviors that were hidden beneath the way they make sense of their situation. Once the researchers arrived at a saturation describing the participants’ way of experiencing the pandemic, they applied the same stages to lead participants in imagining an alternative way metaphor. In the next stage, Tim, who indicated that his current way metaphor was Lost Sailor, determined that his alternative way metaphor was a Far-reaching Satellite. Lost sailor metaphor depicts his disappointment that he would not be able to make connections with other people and that he would feel lonely. Nevertheless, in his alternative way metaphor, he could understand how he could solve his problem by acknowledging that he does not need to see people face-to-face to establish communication and rapport. Accordingly, he constructed an action plan for himself to be like a far-reaching satellite and communicate with people virtually. He realized that he had an obsession or stubbornness for human connection. By the time he realized that, he embraced new assumptions and new understandings and he accepted that he could not change this difficult situation (pandemic), but he could change the way he communicates and he would not have to feel lonely. He underlined that, thinking with these metaphors helped him to change his mindset and guided him to find a solution for his problem. In the last stage, after reaching a new understanding of his experience, Tim could generate action plans. His alternative way metaphor described the target that he wanted to reach. So, in this stage, he reflected on what he could do to become more like the far-reaching satellite. With the

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Table 3. Stages of Imaginative Metaphor Elicitation (IME) Stages

Examination of subjective experience: In this stage, researchers start the conversation by asking participants about their experiences and challenges related to the topic in question. In that context, researchers are informed about the participants’ life experiences and they can establish a connection with the participants. In addition, in this stage, researchers investigate patterns and behaviors regarding challenges identified.

Nardon & Hari (2021) asked for informants’ subjective experiences and challenges about Covid-19 pandemic.

Identification of a goal or desire: After participants indicated their challenges, researchers incite informants to pinpoint an objective or a desire to examine further.

In Nardon & Hari’s study, exchange student Tim identified the goal of accepting that he had to leave because of COVID-19, although it feels hard to leave, given all his efforts to prepare for his exchange year.

Identification of a more targeted goal or desire: The goal that was identified by the informant Stage 2 has to be transformed into a more targeted goal. So researchers ask participants to pinpoint an attainable objective or desire that is under his control.

For Tim, the goal of accepting becomes the goal of “being better able to find satisfaction in virtual connections”.

Eliciting current way metaphor: Once a goal is determined, researchers elicit a current way metaphor from informants by consecutive questioning and leading participants to elaborate the metaphor in a very detailed way. So, participants describe a metaphor that explains their situation and researchers ask questions about the metaphor to make it look more tangible and detailed.

Emily, an exchange student who was feeling stressed regarding her decision to stay in Germany, identified “to be better able to make decisions and to be comfortable with the uncertainty associated with these decisions” as her goal. To elicit the current way metaphor, the researcher asked her what it was like to be in this situation and the images that came to her. As a result, she identified the metaphor of a thoughtful walker in the storm.

Eliciting alternative way metaphor: When saturation is reached regarding the current way of experiencing the pandemic, researchers repeat the same process to invite informants to imagine an alternative metaphor to describe the target situation the informant desires to reach.

Tim’s current way metaphor was the Lost Sailor which indicates that he felt lost and lonely in the ocean without face-to-face connection. He realized that he had an assumption that face-to face encounters are indispensable. But in his alternative way metaphor, he conceptualizes a new metaphor of Far-reaching Satellite where a connection is possible from a distance.

Generation of an action plan: After the alternative way metaphor is indicated, the participants are invited to determine an action plan to resolve the problem. Thus, they organize an action plan to quit being like the current way metaphor and become like the alternative way metaphor.

Tim stated that, as he understood more clearly his current situation and his targets, he came up with ideas about how to reach his goals. Therefore, he indicated that he could be more open to communication and take the initiative to call people.

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researcher’s question of, “What are the actions you can take to become more like the staellite?”, Tim acknowledged what he had to do and determined precise actions he could carry out. For example, he indicated that he would be more open to communication and take the initiative to call people. He realized that he had to take a concrete step to change his current situation. In a nutshell, imaginative metaphor elicitation protocol consists of following stages;