Stereographic Visual Displays and the Three-Dimensional Communication of Findings in Marketing Research

Abstract

In their attempts to communicate with managers and other interested readers, marketing researchers frequently present complex findings in various sorts of visual displays. These diagrams, charts, maps, pictures, and other figures help elucidate the nature of the relationships and structural patterns involved. However, their ability to communicate is partially limited by their typical restriction to the two-dimensional plane of the printed page. As an aid to overcoming such problems, stereographic techniques permit the construction of three-dimensional representations whose vividness and depth provide greater clarity and enhance interpretability to strengthen the reader's grasp of key concepts. The author illustrates the stereographic approach to three-dimensional communication using general examples closely analogous to relevant applications in marketing research.