Etnography

The use of Ethnography in the marketing research area

Ethnography is the scientific study of human social phenomena and communities, through means such as fieldwork. It is considered a branch ofcultural anthropology, the branch of anthropology which focuses on the study of human societies. Some people use “ethnography” and “cultural anthropology” interchangeably, although culturalanthropology includes more research techniques than just ethnography.
Specifically on the marketing research field, Ethnography can provide multiple strategically important perspectives on behaviors ofinterest to marketing researchers. Market-oriented ethnography refers to an ethnographic focus on the behavior of people constituting a market for a product or a service. Ethnography aims to explicatepatterns of action that are cultural and/or social rather than cognitive.
Ethnography is a holistic technique that goes beyond the limitations of focus groups by taking marketing research outside thelaboratory setting. Ethnographers observe, interview, and videotape people in the context of their everyday lives: where they work, live, shop, and play. Ethnography overcomes the artificial nature ofsurveys and their standard question-and-answer format, which depend on self-reporting and the researcher's frame of reference. And, ultimately, ethnographic research reveals the unspoken cultural andsocial patterns that shape consumer behavior.
Ethnography not only establishes the context and subjective significance (emic) of experience for particular groups of persons, but also seeks to convey thecomparative and interpreted (etic) cultural significance of this experience (Denzin 1989).

Benefits or advantages: Four distinctive features guide ethnographer’s research practice, help themaccomplish these goals, and distinguish ethnographic research for those reading and evaluating such as:
Ethnographic research continues to be a valuable approach in helping marketers gain a deeper...