Transcript The New Ethnographers

THE NEW
ETHNOGRAPHERS
Using Observational Research to Inform
New Product Design and Development
About Me
2




Almost 20 years as a marketing manager
B.A. in Cultural Anthropology
M.B.A. in Marketing
Working on Ph.D. in Marketing (minor in design)
research focuses on how institutional, functional
(subcultural) and/or microcultural discourses,
practices and experiences influence firm innovation
 particular interest in the use of ethnography in new
product development and design

Wilner 2008
The Study’s Context
3


The marketing concept says that to achieve
competitive advantage and strong performance,
firms should identify and satisfy customer needs and
wants better than their competitors (cf. Kotler, 1999;
Kirca et al. 2005).
Of course, accurately identifying those needs and
wants in the course of new product design and
development (NPDD) is easier said than done.
Wilner 2008
The Study’s Context
4



Traditional market research methods to gather
information about consumers: self-report surveys,
focus groups, analysis of historic purchase data, etc.
These methods have benefits in identifying some
consumption habits or patterns, but are less useful for
uncovering unrecognized, unarticulated or future
desires
Deshpandé (1983) offers a useful distinction between
research methods that are appropriate for
verification versus those that are more useful for
discovery.
Wilner 2008
Ethnography
5


Ethnography, from the Greek, ethnos = people;
graph= writing is a discovery-based research method
borrowed from cultural anthropology utilized by both
marketing scholars (cf. Belk, ed. 1991) as well as
practitioners (cf. Jordan, 2003; Ante 2006,
Khermouch 2001, Mariampolski 2006).
Ethnography is generally understood as a descriptive
account (usually written) of a society or culture. This
account is produced after the researcher has spent
time among the group of interest (naturalistic context),
engaged in an activity known as fieldwork.
Wilner 2008
Ethnography
6





Traditionally, ethnographies covered a “natural
cycle” (usually a year) to see how societies and their
activities changed throughout the period
Engaging with informants (participant-observation)
was considered at the heart of ethnography,
complemented by interviews of informants
Researcher-as-instrument
Interpretive perspective
What people do vs. what they say they do
Wilner 2008
Many Types of Ethnography
7
According to Mariampolsky (2006) these include:
 Observed product usage in private settings
 Structured usage
 Contextual usability
 Cultural studies
 Day-in-the-life
 Accompanied purchase
 Guerrilla/blitzkrieg ethnography
 Observed purchase or mystery shopping
Wilner 2008
Types of Ethnography
8
These types vary along multiple dimensions, including:
 Context: private vs. public
 Specific product vs. category vs. use constellation
 How structured the interaction is
 Amount of interaction (participation) with consumers
 How evident the presence of the researcher is
 Duration of study
 Number (and “types”) of informants
Wilner 2008
Types of Ethnography
9
Other variables:
 Use of informant interviews
 Use of auto-driving (elicitation techniques)
 Informant checks
 Triangulation with other researchers, methods
 Composition of research team
 Outputs
 Written
Report? Video? Recommendations? Designs?
Wilner 2008
For Example…
10

Grab a pen and paper and pair up with someone
beside you. Take turns describing the experience of
using a laundromat
 If
you have used a laundromat, when was it?
 Why did you need to wash there?
 Did you go with anyone?
 How often did you go?
 What were the challenges?
 What would have made the experience easier?
Wilner 2008
Now Let’s Observe
11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jydtrbk55U
Wilner 2008
For example…
12

Now, work with your partner again and consider:
 What
did you see?
 What didn’t you see?
 How is it different than you remembered?
 What you add to your list of challenges?
 What would you add to your recommendations?
 What is doing laundry in a laundromat?
Wilner 2008
Cultural Knowledge
13
Cost: Each washer in a laundromat generally takes $1–5 in quarters, depending on its size, and
each dryer typically takes one quarter per 6–8 minutes. Some laundromats now have washers and
dryers that accept prepaid laundry cards instead of quarters.…Cost of drop-off laundry\
service: usually, laundromats charge by the pound... A typical load of laundry weighs 10–25
pounds, costing anywhere from $7.50 to $25.00. Supplies: Take the following items with you: Your
laundry in a basket or laundry bag; detergent ; fabric softener; A roll of quarters… The washers
and dryers at laundromats are similar to machines designed for homes..but laundromat facilities
are also different in several ways. Washers and dryers require quarters (or prepaid cards) to
operate. Many washers and dryers have larger capacities than at home machines. Machines may
not be as well-maintained or cleaned as you’d like. Compartments for detergents and fabric
softeners are located atop the washer. Washers typically tumble rather than agitate…Remember
that you’re sharing washers and dryers—leaving your laundry in the machine too long is not only
harmful to your clothes but also inconsiderate to others. Never leave laundry unattended.
Because most laundromat washers are front-load models, remember that they don’t require as
much detergent as a top loader.
Wilner 2008
The Role of the Senses
14
“This is simply the freshest, cleanest
Scent imaginable. We don’t know
If anyone can tell us why, but this
May be the most comforting,
comfortable scent in the [Demeter
Fragrance] Library.”
Wilner 2008
Fun and Sociality
15
At a music festival [in the Netherlands]…jeans brand Wrangler
offered festival goers a much needed service: laundry. And at 18
meters wide and 9 meters high, the Wrangler Laundromat was
hard to miss. People dropped off their mud-encrusted laundry
and were sent a text message the moment it was ready. No spare
change of clothes? Wrangler came up with a generous solution to
that problem, too: they handed out black overalls to anyone who
used the laundromat. [This is] an exercise in experiential
marketing, aimed at surprising and delighting consumers in a way
that magazine ads or TV spots usually can’t.
Wilner 2008
Doing Laundry as Clean Slate
16
Declaring laundry bankruptcy If you’re someone with a mountain of laundry
who is having a problem getting your laundry situation under control, I think
that the laundromat bankruptcy plan is a good plan to follow. Go once to the
laundromat, get all of your clothes washed, and then get started on your new
laundry routine at home with a clean slate… you can do your laundry
yourself, or you can use the Fluff-N Fold service that most laundromats offer...
There is something simple and wonderful about using the laundromat as your
first step in getting on track with a home laundry routine. Also, if you don’t
have a washer and dryer in your home and don’t already use it, you may want
To consider using the services of your local Fluff-N-Fold. You may find that the
expense of the service is less than the amount you value the time you could
spend doing something else.
Wilner 2008
Reflections on Exercise
17







Everyday processes are complex
They have both material and social meaning
Missing out on part of the story might mean missing
out on an NPD opportunity
Looking for one thing, you might find another
A priori assumptions can get in the way
Lived experience is powerful
Ethnography is only as good a tool as the people
who use it.
Wilner 2008
Ethnography and NPD
18

Product design has long been consumer-centered
Human factors analysis
 Ergonomics
 Participative Design



Although instances of corporate ethnography date
back more than 70 years, the method wasn’t used
extensively in commercial applications until the
development of interactive software in the 1980s
(Wasson 2000).
Ethnography has become popular in product design
because it “fills a void in the research data” (Jordan
2003 p. 77).
Wilner 2008
Ethnography and NPD
19


The few marketing articles that mention both
product development and ethnographic methods
do so only indirectly (cf. Arnould and Wallendorf
1994, Agafonoff 2006; Elliott and Jankel-Elliot
2003); design is rarely explicitly addressed.
There is literature on the use of observational
research for NPDD in the management literature
and NPD literature, but very little theorizing about
design and ethnography (for exceptions, see.
Rappaport and Rayport, 1997; Rosenthal and
Capper 2006)
Wilner 2008
Ethnography and NPD
20


Globalization, market fragmentation and increased
competition have increased pressure on firms to
innovate faster, with products that resonate with
both existing and prospective customers
Ethnography has consequently been embraced as a
research method by firms’ marketing, R&D, and
design units. The hope is that its techniques will
bring an understanding of consumers’ lived
experiences, and therefore enable the creation of
more relevant, marketable and successful products
Wilner 2008
Research Questions
21
1.
2.
3.
4.
Why do firms engage in ethnographic inquiry,
particularly in the context of new product
development and design?
What strategic value do they believe the
methodology brings to NPDD?
What roles do marketers, designers, engineers
and/or qualitative researchers play and how to
they intersect/interact?
Who in the firm manages and/or interprets the
findings?
Wilner 2008
Ethnography and NPD
22





Ethnography, then, is seen as a unique lens for
“seeing” the consumer
Hundreds of major firms purport to you it as one
research method for NP (or service) D
Is it a fad?
Does it work?
Under what conditions?
 Do
you need to hire anthropologists? Design
ethnographers? Marketing consultants?
Wilner 2008
Research Program
23
Phase One: reviewing the rhetoric surrounding the
use of ethnography in NPDD (i.e.: looking at what
Proponents of the method say about it)
Phase Two: conducting on-site observation to see what
transpires and how it compares to assumptions
Phase Three: Gleaning best practices for NPDD
Wilner 2008
Phase One Data Sources
24






Books on ethnography written for marketing managers;
Media reports on firm use of the method
Blogs on design, innovation, and applied anthropology
that discuss the ethnographic method in NPD
Ethnographic consultants’ marketing materials (often just
one of a suite of market research methods offered)
Design associations’ materials
Conference proceedings (e.g. EPIC (Ethnographic Praxis
in Industry Conference), DUX (Designing for User
Experience)
Wilner 2008
Preliminary Findings
25
Ethnography = X-Ray Vision

can uncover current design flaws

e.g. the smell of clean laundry
(Abrams 2000)
Wilner 2008
Preliminary Findings
26
Ethnography = Horse Whispering
 can get into consumers’ minds; figure
out what they’re not saying
 e.g. seniors at Best Western hotels
(Khermouch 2001)
Wilner 2008
Preliminary Findings
27
Ethnography = Dream Interpretation
 can reveal brand or product
associations that consumers aren’t
consciously aware of
 e.g. technology use in the home
(Elliott and Jankel-Elliot 2003)
Wilner 2008
Preliminary Findings
28
Ethnography = Muse
 Will stimulate ideation for breakthrough
products
 e.g. Herman Miller’s Resolve Office
System (Deasy et al. 2001)
 find new consumer markets or categories
for existing products (Jordan 2003)
Wilner 2008
Next Phase
29



Interviewing corporate stakeholders about the role
of ethnography in new product design and
development (including marketers, designers,
ethnographers, consultants)
Observing firms’ qualitative research efforts and
considering how the product design and
development process is impacted
I would welcome your feedback and appreciate
your participation in the study
Wilner 2008
Thank You!
30
Contact information:
Sarah Wilner
Schulich School of Business
York University, Toronto
[email protected]
Wilner 2008