Rhetorical issues in writing interpretivist consumer research Margaret K. Hogg Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster, UK, and Pauline Maclaran Keele University, Keele, UK Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how consumer researchers working in the interpretivist tradition go about composing well founded theorized storylines, in order to convince audiences of the soundness of the theory-building which emanates from their studies. Design/methodology/approach – An analytical framework was derived from Golden-Biddle and Locke’s study of organizational ethnographers to see how they made their accounts convincing to their audiences. Golden-Biddle and Locke’s analysis revealed 3Ds – authenticity, plausibility and criticality (each with a variety of sub-dimensions) – that played key rhetorical roles in convincing readers. Findings – Using this analytical framework (summarized in three tables), examples from a variety of authors’ work in Journal of Consumer Research ( JCR) were drawn upon to illustrate how interpretivist consumer behaviour authors tackled these three key dimensions: authenticity, plausibility and criticality. Research limitations/implications – Only a limited set of JCR studies out of an extensive field of qualitative research in consumer behaviour were analyzed. Originality/value – Little attention has been paid hitherto to the actual practices of writing qualitative research within the marketing field. The more basic writing techniques involved in qualitative research tend to be regarded as implicit, skills that are acquired by osmosis rather than being formally taught or made explicit. This can make it particularly difficult for less-experienced interpretivist researchers to learn the tools of their qualitative trade, which are often taken for granted by longer standing researchers. The paper seeks to make some of these writing practices more transparent and some of the rhetorical devices more explicit for authors who may wish to improve their own writing styles or strengthen their ability to use rhetoric. Keywords Consumer research, Creative writing, Market research Paper type Research paper Introduction Within the context of disciplinary debates in the arts and social sciences, and central to many discussions on qualitative market research, we review and reflect on the strategies and writing practices employed by consumer researchers to convince their audiences of the soundness of their theory-building and knowledge generation from their data sets, i.e. how they go about composing convincing and well founded theorized storylines (Golden-Biddle and Locke, 2007) from their material. Interpretivist researchers have encountered difficulties in convincing mainstream audiences that their findings are as much a contribution to knowledge as those of their colleagues working within more positivist-oriented disciplines. Qualitative market researchers working in industry have encountered similar barriers to the widespread adoption of qualitative techniques because of resistance in many consumer-facing industry sectors (e.g. retail and services) to the lack of “hard numbers” in qualitative research findings, The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1352-2752.htm QMRIJ 11,2 130 Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal Vol. 11 No. 2, 2008 pp. 130-146 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1352-2752 DOI 10.1108/13522750810864404