For b2b market research, along with expert interviews, legendary interviews are the most effective.
It is with the help of legendary interviews that it is possible to find out information that is a trade secret of an enterprise - sales volumes, terms of interaction, discount system, etc.
The key feature of the method is the creation of a fictional image of the interviewer in the mind of the interviewee.
In general, the procedure for implementing the method corresponds to an expert interview, but at the preliminary stage of "immersion" much more attention is paid to the theme and image, especially terminology, dependencies and the latest events taking place among market participants.
If in a regular expert interview ignorance of the subject of study is forgivable, then in the case of a Legendary interview, we must definitely look like professionals, as this can lead to the disclosure of the legend to the interviewees and the impossibility of obtaining information upon re-entry.
Accordingly, the scenario for obtaining the necessary information is developed more carefully - the details of the legend are thought out, answers to the "test" are prepared. questions that can be asked by interviewees, etc.
That's why, sometimes a ten-minute interview takes a week to pass a special course of the corresponding university.
The main stage of the legendary interview includes not only the search for knowledgeable persons and obtaining information according to the legend, but also stopping the interview or masking the traces of the interview, it is possible that contacts will continue after the interview.
This is due to the fact that it is the motive of the legend, on the one hand, that allows you to obtain the necessary information, but on the other hand, it is this motive that makes the interviewee hope for continued contact.
As in the case of the Expert Interview, in case of incompetence of the respondent, insufficiency of the information received, the presence of contradictions, a solution to the task is sought in full, most often, another contact person is selected for clarifying interviews, possibly with the correction of the legend.
The disadvantage of the method is the difficulty of obtaining information that requires time to prepare a response, including a written one. This requires a return contact, perhaps a face-to-face meeting or a visit to the interviewer's office. In this case, the Expert Interview or the Mystery Shopper in the b2b market is most often used.
