In praise of retrospective surveys

Some important issues in marketing require the use of retrospective surveys. But, despite the lack of suitable alternative methods, retrospective survey-based research tends to be given short shrift by journal editors and is treated harshly in review processes. The goal of this paper is to acknowledge justifiable criticisms, see to what extent these criticisms can be addressed or contained, and to foster an inclusive approach to the use of retrospective surveys - especially for the investigation of those important issues that cannot be studied systematically in any other way. Examples are drawn from word of mouth (WOM) research - an area where retrospective surveys have been an indispensible method for gaining knowledge.