Data Collection

Case study data can be collected from multiple levels, perspectives, and sources (Gummesson 2006; Vissak 2010). Primary data collection methods used in this re-search are interviews and direct observation. These are also complemented with documentary evidence, some of which were received during the interviews and some through online searches.

Many alternative methods were considered to gain information of the customer ex-perience through the customer journey but given the direction of this study to focus on Veikkaus’s point-of-view and their actions to enhance customer experience, the interviews were selected as primary data source. However, as the customer itself is a key part of the actual customer journey, participant observation was relevant for the study and it was selected as a secondary data source.

The data collection phase of this study proved to be somewhat problematic since the interviewees were rather hard to obtain with the required knowledge to answer this research’s interview questions. Many potential interviewees were approached during the data collection phase but most of them refused to take part in the study.

Eventually, two interviewees were found to take part in the research. For the sake of anonymity, the full titles and names of the interviewees won’t be shared in this thesis.

Semi-structured interview is a suitable method for qualitative researches due to its flexible nature (Saunders et al. 2016). Metsämuuronen (2008) states that, when the topic and themes are rather sensitive or difficult, the method of semi-structured in-terview is crucial to keep the conversation flowing smoothly and in close relation to the topic. Yin (2014) notes that open-ended and conversational manner for the case study interviews is rather typical to get the interviewees talking about their interpre-tations and opinions. Also, during the conversation they can share their insights, explanations, and meanings related to certain occurrences.

In a semi-structured interview, the researcher has a list of themes and some key questions to be covered, although their use may vary from interview to interview (Saunders et al. 2016). The order of the questions may also vary depending on the flow of the conversation (Metsämuuronen 2008), and more precise questions may rise during the conversation. It is practically evident that every interview differs from the others and because of that the analysis of the data can be difficult without audio recording or at least note taking. Yin (2014) proposes recording of the interviews if the interviewees give permission to it.

The primary data for the study was gathered through semi-structured thematic in-terviews in face-to-face meetings with two company representatives. The inin-terviews were held with an executive and an experienced service designer during the autumn of 2017. First interview was held in Casino Helsinki’s premises and the second was held in RAY’s former headquarters, RAY-house, in Espoo. Both interviews were conducted in Finnish language and recorded using a laptop, making the analysis of the data easier after the interviews. Writing notes and key points was also utilized during the meetings.

Both meetings followed similar structure with the beforehand sent questionnaires and the interviewees were told that the interviewer had few years of experience working in the company. The questions were based on the research questions, the-oretical part of the study and the research framework. Chosen themes for the inter-view were established according to the main headers of this thesis.

Position and

Table 3. Details of the interviews

Participant observation can be divided into four different types and two separate dimensions. These four types are: complete participant, complete observer, ob-server-as-participant, and participant-as-observer, and the dimensions are whether the researcher’s identity is revealed or not (Saunders et al. 2016, Metsämuuronen 2008). During this research the researcher utilized participant-as-observer and ob-server-as-participant methods. In both methods, the purpose of obtaining infor-mation for conducting a research was mentioned to participants.

As mentioned, the observation was conducted in two different ways. Firstly, much of the observation was conducted according to the participant-as-observer method.

Saunders et al. (2016) notes that in this type of observation the researcher both

takes part and reveals the purpose of conducting a research. Saunders et al. (2016) continues that this type of observation can be done, for instance, when the re-searcher is a part-time employee of the company and reveals the research conduc-tion purposes to the possible participants. The author of this thesis was employed by Veikkaus at the time and worked as a customer service employee in many dif-ferent arcades of Veikkaus, more precisely in eight difdif-ferent arcades, all located in southern Finland. Customers that showed interest to converse more, were some-times asked several questions related to the researcher’s topics after revealing the intentions of conducting this research. Customers weren’t recorded, but the re-searcher took notes after the encounters. These notes were utilized while creating the interview questions for the company representatives, but also for the analysis of the results of the interviews.

The conversations with customers were meant to be short and to be closely related to their previous experiences or preferences. The questions asked varied with each customer, but all of them were based on the customer journey elements presented in the chapter 3.1.2. or to the customer experience within the arcade or to their ex-perience in the online or mobile environment. The conversations ranged from the shortest being under a minute to the longest being more than an hour, typically they lasted 5 minutes and often focused on only one topic.

Second type of observation utilized was observing co-workers and their experiences with different customers and with the management and instructions gained. They were asked about similar notions that customers had made and how they perceive the perspectives and opinions customers have. Also, this observation was utilized with relation to their close managers and how they viewed and felt about the man-ager’s instructions.