Methodological considerations for interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) in visual research: a practical guide to using collages

Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) is one of the most established qualitative methods in UK psychology and is increasingly adopted by researchers worldwide. Its applicability spans multiple disciplines, underscoring IPA’s value as a versatile, widely applicable approach across the social sciences, including marketing. This methodological paper offers a practical guide to conducting multimodal IPA research incorporating visual methods by using the collage technique from a recent consumer study as an example. It addresses key paradigmatic and ethical considerations and offers a rigorous foundation for this novel qualitative inquiry format grounded in Gadamer’s hermeneutics. In doing so, we chiefly respond to a recent call to explore the potential of idiographic collages for articulating lived experiences, while also addressing broader demands for more robust, evidence-based IPA research. We demonstrate the advantages visual methods offer over traditional, interview-based IPA studies by enabling richer, more layered accounts of experience. Furthermore, by incorporating methodological insights from other fields such as marketing, law, and ethics, the paper enhances methodological thinking in psychology and related disciplines. We conclude that multimodal IPA research incorporating visual methods, such as collage, can balance the demands placed on researchers with the depth, richness, and surprising insights this approach can yield.