In-depth interviews as a qualitative research tool An in-depth interview is a personal interview – face-to-face that is performed by a professional interviewer with a person that matches the profile relevant to the research. At times an interview may be done with two or three participants (diad/triad), especially when dealing with a group that makes decisions together (a family, business partners etc.), or when it is necessary to have a confrontation between two consumers with different stand points, or consuming habits (“confrontation interviews”). An in-depth interview usually lasts between 30 and 90 minutes, depending on the issue at hand and on the context. The interviews take place at the participant’s home, office, social laboratory or any place relevant to the research and acceptable to both parties. In some cases the interviews are done over the telephone. The choice of in-depth interviews in place of focus groups is a result of a limited target audience, which makes it difficult to locate a large number of participants, or an study of intimate nature that requires a personal rather than a group interview. An in-depth interview, contrary to a focus group, enables us to get to the details and create a precise reconstruction of motivations and decision-making processes.