The Power of Ethnography

Hy Mariampolski

This paper reviews the theoretical perspectives at the root of ethnography and suggests analytic approaches that yield high-value information for product marketing and communications decisions.
  

The power of ethnography

Hy Mariampolski QualiData Research Inc. and Hunter College of CUNY

INTRODUCTION

By focusing on individual and group behaviours in their natural environment, ethnography represents a long-neglected opportunity for marketers. Nowadays becoming familiar by fashionable terminology such as 'on-site', 'naturalistic' or 'contextual' research, ethnographic methods allow marketers to delve into the actual occasions and situations in which products are used, services are received and benefits are conferred. It permits a more holistic and better nuanced view of consumer satisfactions, frustrations and limitations than many other research approaches, offering insights into consumer language, myths and...

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