Abstract

Two of the predominant approaches to gaining knowledge in the social sciences are the positivist and interpretive approaches. Different philosophical assumptions and goals underlie both. We are better able to see the strengths and weaknesses in the two approaches by comparing and contrasting different perspectives; this juxtaposition is essential if we are to improve the ways in which we study consumers. In this article, we demonstrate the influence of assumptions on different research processes, cite problems inherent in both perspectives, point out the range of po-sitions within the interpretive approach, and discuss the ramifications of diverse ways of seeking knowledge for consumer research. M any ways of seeking knowledge about consumers exist. Knowledge may be gained from such di-verse approaches as reading a novel to conducting a laboratory experiment. Each form of knowledge is valuable. However, as individual researchers, we must choose the processes through which we gain knowledge. Our field is dominated by various versions of positivism (Anderson 1986), even though the problems of positiv-ism are well articulated in the literature (Anderson 1983; Olson 1981; Peter and Olson 1983). However, the in-terpretive approach is beginning to receive some atten-tion as an alternative way of seeking knowledge (Belk,