Global Journal of Management and Business Research, E: Marketing, Volume 23 Issue 1

area of marketing, in which complex social, behavioral and marketing phenomena are investigated, as well as issues directly related to social well-being, such as ideological, hegemonic, gender and ethical issues; the wealth brought by qualitative research is necessary. In the field of marketing, there are many reasons to use critical and qualitative research, such as achieving understanding of particular reasons and social phenomena, understanding consumers' preference for brands, discovering underlying motivations, developing an initial understanding of a problem, among others (CAHILL, 1998, DINIZ et al., 2016). Therefore, critical studies in marketing are important, mainly due to two aspects: the function of marketing is the one that most interacts with society; and the exclusion of marketing from critical discussions constitutes a harmful and alienated practice, notably with regard to the ideological and economic consequences for society (MARANHÃO; PAES DE PAULA, 2012). In the same sense, non-reductionist studies are essential, which have as their object the effects of marketing as a social practice (TADAJEWSKI; BROWNLIE, 2008). When conjecturing that the conventional epistemological bases have a direct approach to quantitative studies and the non-conventional ones to qualitative studies, the question remains whether there is an effort to suggest alternative paradigms to positivism for research in marketing. In the meantime, another question arises: are qualitative studies in marketing anchored in the critical and/or constructivist paradigm or do they maintain close approximations with the positivist paradigm? It is also questioned what are the epistemological bases and what is the methodologi- cal rigor of research of a qualitative nature in marketing? To help with reflection, the present work aims to analyze how qualitative research is constructed in articles published in the Revista Brasileira de Marketing – ReMark, in the period of 2018, based on conventional and unconventional epistemologies. ReMark aims to promote Brazilian scientific production in the field of marketing. The choice of said magazine is justified by the fact that it is focused on the Marketing area, and is, among the four specific Revista Brasileira de Marketing, the one with the best classification in 2021 by the Qualis/CAPES system – Plataforma Sucupira, B1. Despite the Qualis classify- cation, the aforementioned magazine has prestige and status in the national academic environment, in particular, related to marketing. Added to this is the fact that in 2018 the Journal launched two special editions, one of which specifically deals with the state of the art of marketing research. Among the works published in this issue are contributions that broaden the debates on the impact and challenges that marketing research will have to face in the coming decades to continue contributing to academia and the market. One of them is the article by Hair, Harrison and Risher (2018), for whom the marketing function has changed rapidly and the analysis methods used by researchers in the field are also changing due to changes in management skills, technological innovations and the consumer behavior. Also according to Hair, Harrison and Risher (2018), these advances have directed marketing research towards the use of increasingly quantitative methods, such as the use of big data and artificial intelligence. Moreover, this work is part of the discussion about epistemologies, scientific rigor and the particular aspects of qualitative research. Guided by the aforementioned questions, it is characterized as a documentary research. For this purpose, the epistemological assumptions of the conventional and non-conventional bases will be used as criteria and the classification of qualitative studies according to the research strategy, data collection techniques, as well as the form of data analysis. II. E pistemologicAL B ases The concept of epistemology is used flexibly and serves to designate either a general theory of knowledge or more restricted studies, questioning the genesis of the structure of science; thus constituting an interdisciplinary discipline character (JAPIASSU, 1991). Given the importance of epistemological reflection on the construction of knowledge in the most diverse areas of knowledge, but especially in Marketing, it is up to the researcher to apprehend his object of study, in such a way that he is able to legitimize an epistemological posture that solidly supports their conceptions. With such reflections in mind and observing the various epistemological positions, it can be noted that science is not static, quite the contrary, it is dynamic. Like the world, nature, society and people, it undergoes several changes, transforming itself in the course of History; it influences and is influenced by the context, by behaviors and revolutions, it changes and is modified. Scientific knowledge has evolved throughout history, and new possibilities for doing science arise every day. In the field of investigation of Administration phenomena, Martins (1994) presents conventional and non-conventional epistemological conceptions. The conventional ones are based on positivism, while the non-conventional ones are based on dialectical and historical materialism. Martins (1997), considering the classification suggested by Triviños, propose the following typology: empiricist-positivists, phenomeno- logical-hermeneutics and dialectical critics, with systemic and functionalist approaches being treated in the empiricist-positivist block. The following briefly presents the epistemological currents that will serve as the basis for Methodological Nature and Epistemological bases of Qualitative Studies in Marketing 22 Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XXIII Issue I Version I Year 2023 ( )E © 2023 Global Journals