Unspoken answers and the power of implied meaning: How anthropology and technology can predict consumer actions

Ujwal Arkalgud and Michelle Gansle

Reviews how anthropology can be used to understand and predict consumer actions in the digital age.

Abstract

Insight and marketing professionals are constantly asked to anticipate how changes in culture will impact their business. Despite billions of data-points being analysed across thousands of tools, we remain overwhelmed with information and underwhelmed with insight. We continue to miss the mark as we overvalue the explicit (consumer verbatims) and under-value the implicit (an analysis of meaning and beliefs). This is disconcerting in a business context. But it is even more disappointing when you consider that consumers are revealing breadcrumbs and clues that can help us better understand what drives positive change in the world. Things like decoding what...

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