Using ethnography to get at the truth

One of the biggest challenges in market research is making sure people are telling us the truth. Beyond intentional lying, people frequently don’t realize they’re not telling the truth. For example, people think they always make decisions based on logic only (and they don’t). And they over-estimate how “virtuous” they will be, whether it comes to eating or saving or variety of other activities.

We have a variety of ways to get around that problem. One favorite: asking people what other people think or say or do – not them. Another is ethnographic research: observing people’s behavior in real life, whether at home or at work or while shopping. This type of research helps us learn more about customers and prospects: we get to see what they really do, including the things that contradict what they say they do. And we can more fully understand the context of how our product or service fits into their lives.

There are many examples of how ethnographic research has helped companies:

• IKEA combines home visits with qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys to develop their Life at Home report which helps inform product development and communication strategy.
• Google researchers observed how people navigate unfamiliar areas to inform the intuitive design of Google Maps.
• The dripless cap was invented after researchers saw people had a roll of paper towels next to their detergent containers and learned it was there to clean up the drips that always happened.

While ethnography can clearly help with product development, note the IKEA example above: their in-home research also provides a deeper understanding of their customers and their needs, which can help develop more effective marketing strategy.

One problem with ethnography: the “observer effect.” People may change their behavior because they know they’re being observed. That’s why I advocate combining qualitative interviewing with ethnographic research. As a researcher, rather than remaining silent and telling people to do what they normally do, I have a conversation with them so they can be more comfortable and not feel judged.

For example, when I was conducting in-home and in-store research about how parents buy food for their children, I noticed one mom who talked about buying healthy food... but I saw a lot of junk food in the pantry! Mom must have known we could see that, so rather than ignoring it, I gently probed “you know, many of the people we talk to mention the desire to eat healthy, but they still have a lot of snacks like these. Tell me about that.” My comment about the other people we talked to enabled mom to not feel judged and then we could talk about the trade-offs between healthy and unhealthy snacks, which was very valuable to our client as they developed messaging and packaging for their products.

Let’s discuss how to find out what truly motivates your customers. Email me at info at bureauwest.com.

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Sources: “Companies That Use Ethnographic Research: Success Stories,” Insight7; “IKEA Life at Home,” IKEA; Bureau West research

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Bureau West conducts in-person and online focus groups, one-on-one interviews, quantitative surveys, and website usability and effectiveness testing - in the U.S., and worldwide with ThinkGlobal Qualitative. We encourage our clients to call us early when they’re considering research, so we can provide advice on the most appropriate research method or combination of methods.