Ethnographic market research

3 free articles raphic research: a key to the march 2009 traditional market researchers, who use highly targeted questions to extract information from customers, corporate ethnographers observe and listen in a nondirected way. The ethnographic work at my company, intel, and other firms now informs functions such as strategy and long-range raphy is the branch of anthropology that involves trying to understand how people live their lives. Unlike traditional market researchers, who ask specific, highly practical questions, anthropological researchers visit consumers in their homes or offices to observe and listen in a nondirected way. While this observational method may appear inefficient, it enlightens us about the context in which customers would use a new product and the meaning that product might hold in their raphy at intel initially focused on new markets. The company had provided products only for the workplace, but in 1995 managers wondered whether users at home would become a distinct market. Ethnographic research showed so much potential that intel set up a business unit to concentrate on processors and platforms for home ly, intel ethnographers have veered into strategic questions.

By understanding how people live, researchers discover otherwise elusive trends that inform the company’s future strategies. But i believe that ethnography is so beneficial that it will spread widely, helping firms in every industry truly understand customers and adapt to fast-changing markets. More information can be found in our privacy & cookies  process, often referred to as ethnography, can result in breakthroughs for brands, offering an insight into what people are really like, rather than what they want researchers to think they are household goods manufacturer miele, for example, observed constant cleaning in homes where some family members were suffering from allergies. Meanwhile, htc’s ethnographic research with agency firefish provided its design team a steer on some of the ways mobile phones could make people’s lives cases highlight the value in observing people and their actions, rather than asking them to self-report what they do. It can be a valuable process, as miele, htc and others will attest, but it can also be expensive and the past this has put marketers off, with many relying on the cheaper, mainstream techniques of surveys and focus groups. But could social media and mobile technology open up ethnographical studies to more companies and, if so, what can they expect from this kind of research?

Market research has its roots in the social science discipline of anthropology, where it has long been used to gather information on human societies and cultures. Its use in 21st century marketing is less clear-cut, with brands sometimes keen to get quick media and smartphones have led to consumers ‘lifelogging’ events as they happenone agency sounds a warning to those tempted to deploy ‘quick and dirty’ tactics, suggesting that marketers consider whether they have lost what is great about ethnography in order to make it fit into the corporate world. He worked for 14 years in marketing and npd at hewlett-packard and has published extensively on the subject of ethnographic market research. This is where they “tend to be more open and honest in their answers” and where marketers can “directly observe them using products rather than relying on explanations of how they use products”. The company that commissioned the research designed a throw-away ‘light stick’ to overcome the researcher ipsos mori says ethnography allows “deep insight into the contradictory nature of much of human behaviour: the focus is on what people really do versus what they say they do”. In other words, it is about identifying hidden needs – and this is where the real breakthroughs can , through its ethnographic market research, not only recognised the gap in the market for a hygiene sensor on vacuum cleaners, it also observed how careful people with allergies were with their laundry and so introduced a washing machine with a programme for washing pillows and a rinse process that removes detergent ing to the project, olaf dietrich, a director at miele, explained in a research paper with cranfield the firm’s “listen and watch” philosophy: “by this we mean that we realise that it is essential for not only marketing but also engineers to see the issues first-hand.

A result of its ethnographic research, miele introduced new programmes on its washing machines to cater for people with allergiesfiona naughton, htc’s vice-president for global marketing agrees. The more brands know about people and how the world around them shapes their behaviour, the more we can empathise with them,” he is why some experts encourage more brand-side marketers to use and embrace ethnography and get involved at the coalface of the designers don’t want to know the answer, they want to understand the stimulation for eld’s goffin admits he is “worried” that some companies outsource all the work due to time constraints. Researchers might interject to ask why somebody did something, but generally the idea is to observe real life. Another benefit is that marketers can “rewind and hypothesise”, as well as bring in other teams to watch and e gower, group head of insight and research at insurance company hiscox, has long espoused the benefits of ethnography and has used it in previous roles. With mobile technology and people more willing to share their thoughts, you don’t have to traipse around after someone all day – they can send you an email, photos or a video diary,” she owner coty is using mobile ethnographic research for its make-up rangesmarco madrisotti, vice-president for product development at beauty company coty says mobile ethnography is an attractive option in this says: “the absence of an observer in the living room makes things even more natural. It’s also between three and five times cheaper than traditional ethnography, which means we can do it more frequently and cover more markets.

Following a successful project involving eye make-up products, with mobile ethnographic research agency ethos, the company is rolling out further studies across its make-up brands are reluctant to discuss their ethnographic research, let alone the findings and the payback. Perhaps it is because they don’t want others to understand just how successful it can goffin concludes: “marketing has traditionally been the home of customer understanding, but through ethnography it can be the driving force behind major breakthroughs. This reason marketers have a vested interest in knowing what goes on behind their customers’ front doors, and keeping what they discover under lock and big three all marketers have the time or budget to carry out in-depth ethnographic market research, which has led to many relying on focus groups. True, ethnography can be expensive, but the combination of mobile technology and the willingness of customers to share their experiences will make it more accessible to naughton, vice-president for global marketing at htc, calls ethnographic market research “the gift that keeps on giving”. Too many people can be an issue, but academics such as keith goffin at cranfield believe that involving staff in some of the visits and analysis generates deeper commitment on the part of the npd storey, research director, radius raphy has its roots in anthropology, where it is used to study cultures and societies. For this reason it is a useful research tool for marketers who want to get to know their customers and their culture, and the role certain products and services play in their lives.

Ethnography allows brands to see what people do in real life, rather than what they claim to ally, the research takes place in the subject’s natural environment – usually their home. Frustrations are a great place to find new product ’s different from a focus group or one-to-one – you can do a lot of that kind of research and glean nothing. I tend to ensure that they can empathise with the shopper, so if it’s a young mum, i’ll choose someone who has had a baby so that both the researcher and the consumer feel ng a normal environment isn’t always easy because people aren’t used to being watched in their own home. They can wear cameras around their necks, send video clips via their smartphones and provide instant responses and updates via raphy, by its very nature, involves great detail and some marketers might be put off. According to marketing week, most companies have used focus groups and surveys but through observation, they are able to find […]. From marketing amazon launching its first london-based pop-up store to chancellor philip hammond’s autumn budget, here are five of this week’s biggest stories for acknowledges year of “highs and lows” for youtube as its attempts to woo brands at its annual brandcast event are overshadowed by a child safety gdpr deadline may be drawing closer, but shell’s rob french says marketers shouldn’t view 25 may 2018 as the finish line as it will be an ongoing challenge to shape messaging and improve ng exclusively to marketing week, nyt ceo mark thompson talks battling fake news, thinking subscriber-first and the strategy shift from ad sales to offering marketing jobsmw jobs >latest ton confectionary e marketing registered?

Access marketing week’s wealth of insight, analysis and opinion that will help you do your job y a member? And receive the best content from the only uk title 100% dedicated to serving marketers' ’ll ask you just a few questions about what you do and where you work. Don't worry, we won't share your information with other parties, unless you give us permission to do best contentour award winning editorial team (ppa digital brand of the year) ask the big questions about the biggest issues on everything from strategy through to execution to help you navigate the fast moving modern marketing biggest issuesfrom the opportunities and challenges of emerging technology to the need for greater effectiveness, from the challenge of measurement to building a marketing team fit for the future, we are your al and professional developmentinformation, inspiration and advice from the marketing world and beyond that will help you develop as a marketer and as a you are looking for our jobs site, please click  anything and hit “enter”. Register and receive the best content from the only uk title 100% dedicated to serving marketers' ’ll ask you just a few questions about what you do and where you work. Don't worry, we won't share your information with other parties, unless you give us permission to do process, often referred to as ethnography, can result in breakthroughs for brands, offering an insight into what people are really like, rather than what they want researchers to think they are household goods manufacturer miele, for example, observed constant cleaning in homes where some family members were suffering from allergies. After all, you are studying real life and understanding that it can make a real difference to everything from new products to how you communicate with your ewrecent changesyour watchlistsearch widgetsearchdefinition of ethnographic market researchthis is a systematic market research observing customers in their own environment using products and services.

For instance, panasonic used ethnographic market research to probe requirements for an electric shaver for women. By recording the grooming behaviour of women in their research, the company was able to develop an ergonomic design with the right colours and style to fit the us product, named the lady shaver, needed to be significantly different to shavers developed for the japanese market. The in-depth market knowledge generated by ethnographic techniques made it possible to identify the product features that were specific to the us japanese market required high gloss white, as this is associated, in that culture, with quality. Use of rubber surfaces on the product for the us also underlined the waterproof nature of the shaver in the customer’s raphic market research can also be applied to b2b products and services. You hang out in marketing, branding, or product development circles long enough, you’re bound to come across the term “ethnographic marketing research. Here at interq, we’re a big fan of this style of research because it helps us observe behaviors, rather than just rely on what people communicate to us in interviews.

We get to see people in their home, shopping, or office environments, and because of the setting, we often find new insights that people may not have even realized thought it would be valuable to spend a whole blog post breaking down the what’s, how’s, and why’s of ethnographic marketing may associate ethnography with anthropology, which is absolutely correct. Ethnographic studies have long been a mainstay of field anthropologists and sociologists who aim to study cultures, subcultures, and distinct populations. The practice is rooted in observation rather than marketing, ethnography is rooted in observation, as well, but studies are typically much shorter, and projects are designed for a marketing context. Usually, we conduct the study in the user’s home, office environment, or at a store where they raphic research versus traditional qualitative research. Traditional qualitative marketing research study is done through in-depth interviews (either over the phone or in-person), or we’ll do focus groups, where a moderator will interview a whole group of people at once. We can also conduct online marketing studies, but we’ll save that for another post.

In these circumstances, we’ll advise on creating an ethnographic marketing teristics of a marketing ethnographic study include:Observing people in their homes or ting multiple data sources, including observations, videotaping people in their environments, and interviewing people in the ing the results through a methodology-based process using coding (identifying the themes and key points in the data), looking for contradictions between what people say and how they act, and identifying cultural characteristics of the subject to understand how this affects ions where ethnographic research is a great choice. Marketing ethnographic study is particularly useful when you want to:Figure out a customer’s needs, wants, and r a customer’s attitudes and package design p a new out online formats, such as web design or ethnographic research, it’s imperative to hire a third-party, outside company to conduct the research? Second, customers or clients may act differently when observed by a company manufacturing the product, and third, ethnographic methodology requires experience, training, and academic-based methods for optimal raphic marketing research, above all, helps a company better understand the customer by determining the internal and external factors that influence behavior. Take advantage of this powerful research tool next time you undergo product development, launch a new website, or develop packaging – it may radically change your sted in ethnographic marketing research?