Doing Anthropology in Consumer Research
Publisher: Left Coast Press, Inc.; Left Coast Press
Published: November 30, 2007
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 320
ISBN-13: 9781598740912
Subjects: Ethnography; Market research; Social Science; Business / Economics / Finance; Sociology; Anthropology - Cultural; Consumer Behavior - General; Marketing - Research; Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural; Anthropology - General; Business anthropology; Consumers; Research
Description: "Doing Anthropology in Consumer Research is an essential new guide to the theory and practice of conducting ethnographic research in consumer environments. Patricia Sunderland and Rita Denny argue that, while the recent explosion in the use of “ethnography” in the corporate world has provided unprecedented opportunities for anthropologists and other qualitative researchers, this popularization too often results in shallow understandings of culture, divorcing ethnography it from its foundations. In response, they reframe the field by re-attaching ethnography to theoretically robust and methodologically rigorous cultural analysis. The engrossing text draws on decades of the authors’ own eclectic research - from coffee in Bangkok and boredom in New Zealand to computing in the United States - using methodologies from focus groups and rapid appraisal to semiotics and visual ethnography. Five provocative forewords by leaders in consumer research further push the boundaries of the field and challenge the boundaries of academic and applied work. In addition to reorienting the field for academics and practitioners, this book is an ideal text for students, who are increasingly likely to both study and work in corporate environments."--Publisher's description.