International Marketing in Germany – From a cultural perspective

3.2.3
 
The Case Study 
Another type of research is the case study which is often used within qualitative research. It is 
especially useful when the objects are complex. In Backman, Yin defines the characteristics 
of a case study as: 
“(…) investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context; when 
the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident; and in 
which multiple sources of evidence are used”
126
 
When applying case study as a research tool it is common that the research problem requires 
full understanding to be able to reach desirable results. After decided upon the research 
problem, choosing relevant case objects to analyze follows. The case can for example consist 
of one or several organizations. A case study can have different purposes; it can be 
exploratory or descriptive.
127
3.2.4
 
Choice of Design 
Our choice of research includes different types of research and the choice is based on the 
information that is needed. The types of research chosen in this thesis are a combination of 
exploratory research, case study and descriptive research.
The exploratory phase will be used in the beginning phase as well as in the pre-study in order 
to help us defining the problem and research areas. It will be helpful in the search of 
information throughout the entire thesis until the case study. The exploratory research was 
especially valuable in the matter of finding appropriate theories, models and when finding 
useful information for the pre-study about German culture. The information comes from 
secondary sources such as databases and literature. We find it appropriate that this phase is 
characterized by flexibility, since we have made some minor change of course in the subject. 
This type of research will also be used when deciding upon which companies the interviews 
will include. 
Since the matter of this thesis is complex and doesn’t categorize easily, we have decided to 
apply case study as a research tool. The companies will be treated as cases, giving us larger 
opportunities of understanding them within their real-life context.
After gathered information in the exploratory phase, the descriptive phase fits our subject 
since it is about identifying causes of happenings. Applied on this thesis it means identifying 
cultural variables causing changes in the marketing mix. The identified causing variables will 
be based on information gathered in the frame of reference and pre-study (the exploratory 
phase) as well as the interviews (the case study). 
126
Yin in Backman, J., 
Rapporter och Uppsatser, 
(1998), p. 49 
127
Backman, J., 
Rapporter och Uppsatser,
(1998), p. 48f 

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