"Do que ter aquela velha opinião formada sobre tudo" : novas perspectivas teóricas e de pesquisa em opinião pública a partir da visão do marketing

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the construction of a new perspective in Public Opinion studies, analyzing the theme from the Marketing area and anchoring it to the Big Data approach, since we believe that it is a viable and promising alternative for studies, mainly for opinion polls. To that end, we sought to answer the guiding question - "How does Marketing and technological and methodological advances, such as the development of research anchored in the Big Data approach, contribute to the understanding of Public Opinion?" – through the construction of four research objectives and structuring the thesis in six chapters - introduction, four studies and conclusion - with each of the studies being associated with a goal. In the first study, we discussed topics about Public Opinion (PO) aiming to contribute to the theoretical construction of the area, through an analysis of the literature that recovered part of the discussions about the construction of theories and the "conventional" themes of the studies in PO. From this, we propose an approximation between the areas of marketing and Public Opinion, as well as highlight the lack of elaboration of the most widely accepted theories and studies about the new perspectives from the association of PO to the approach of Big Data and Marketing, a topic on which we look further through a Systematic Review of Literature (SRL) in the second study. We investigate the recurring themes, approaches and techniques that are being developed and used. Our findings have shown that the subject is promising both from an academic and a market point of view, and that the development of data mining mechanisms and the recognition of the points of alignment between Big Data approaches and traditional surveys are presented as challenges. From this, we propose the debate about the new possibilities of knowledge about Public Opinion emerged from the last technological and methodological advances recorded in the last decades in the field of opinion research with the development of the Big Data approach in the third study. For this, we seek to update the debate from the main aspects criticized by Bourdieu (1973) in his seminal discourse "Public Opinion Does not Exist". We reflect on the arguments raised and consider that biases and questions of traditional research can be solved by research based on the Big Data approach. From the propositions of the thesis, we construct a theoretical framework that demonstrates that Public Opinion is one of the arenas in which the influence of marketing practices can be felt in the fourth study. Thus, we understand that Reputation is an important intangible asset for organizations, a competitive differential. We also emphasize the need for the training of multidisciplinary professionals, as well as pointing out the challenges for the area of research in marketing and PO. We conclude that Marketing is an indispensable discipline for the construction and understanding of the Public Opinion and we emphasize the necessity of carrying out empirical researches.