Anthropology of Consumerism and Product Research Methodology: Unveiling the "Why" Behind the Buy
Introduction:
Ever wondered why you buy that specific brand of coffee, or why that particular gadget caught your eye? It's more than just a fleeting desire; it's a complex dance between culture, identity, and the clever strategies of marketers. This article delves into the fascinating field of anthropology and its application to understanding consumer behavior, focusing particularly on how anthropological research methodologies help us unlock the secrets behind consumer choices and inform effective product research. We'll explore how ethnography, participant observation, and other qualitative techniques provide rich insights that go beyond simple surveys and quantitative data, revealing the deep-seated cultural and social factors that drive purchasing decisions. Get ready to uncover the hidden motivations behind your own consumer habits and those of others!
Outline:
I. What is Consumer Anthropology? Defining the field and its relevance in today's market.
II. Key Research Methodologies: Exploring ethnographic research, participant observation, interviews, and focus groups. Highlighting their strengths and limitations.
III. Applying Anthropology to Product Research: Illustrating how anthropological insights inform product development, marketing, and branding strategies. Case studies can be used here.
IV. Ethical Considerations: Addressing the ethical implications of anthropological research in consumer contexts, focusing on informed consent and data privacy.
V. The Future of Consumer Anthropology: Discussing emerging trends and the role of technology in shaping future research.
Article:
I. What is Consumer Anthropology?
Consumer anthropology isn't your typical market research. It's a deeper dive, a more nuanced understanding of why people buy things. While traditional market research often relies on numbers and surveys, consumer anthropology uses the tools of cultural anthropology—ethnography, participant observation, interviews—to understand the cultural contexts that shape consumer behavior. Think of it as being a detective, not just looking at the crime scene (purchase data), but investigating the criminal's motivations and background. It’s about uncovering the hidden meanings embedded within our consumption patterns, understanding how our choices reflect our identities, values, and aspirations.
II. Key Research Methodologies:
One of the cornerstone methods of consumer anthropology is ethnography, a deep immersion into the culture of the consumer. Imagine yourself as a fly on the wall, observing people in their natural habitats—their homes, their workplaces, their social gatherings—to understand how they interact with products and services. This isn't about ticking boxes on a survey; it's about observing the subtle nuances of behavior, the unspoken rituals, and the emotional connections.
Participant observation takes this immersion a step further. Researchers actively participate in the lives of their subjects, gaining firsthand experience and building rapport. Imagine participating in a yoga class to understand the consumer experience of yoga equipment. This level of engagement provides incredibly rich data.
Interviews are another vital tool. They allow researchers to delve deeper into the motivations and beliefs of consumers. Instead of simple yes/no answers, interviews provide narratives, stories, and explanations. They offer a window into the consumer's personal world.
Finally, focus groups can provide a collaborative environment where consumers can discuss their experiences and perspectives. These structured discussions can unearth unexpected insights and reveal shared values or conflicting viewpoints.
Each method has its strengths and limitations. Ethnography can be time-consuming and expensive, while interviews might be influenced by researcher bias. The key is to employ a mixed-methods approach, combining these techniques to create a comprehensive understanding.
III. Applying Anthropology to Product Research:
The insights gained from anthropological research are invaluable in product development, marketing, and branding. For example, a company developing a new line of baby food could use ethnographic research to observe how parents feed their babies and what challenges they face. This could inform the development of innovative packaging or feeding solutions. Similarly, a clothing brand might conduct participant observation in shopping malls to understand how people interact with displays and clothing racks.
Imagine a company launching a new smartphone. Instead of relying solely on technical specifications, anthropological research can unveil the cultural meanings associated with the phone. Is it a status symbol? A tool for connection? A way to express individuality? Understanding these nuances allows for more effective marketing campaigns that resonate with consumers on an emotional level.
IV. Ethical Considerations:
Consumer anthropology, like all research involving human subjects, demands ethical consideration. Researchers must obtain informed consent from participants, ensuring they understand the purpose of the study and how their data will be used. Data privacy is paramount, and researchers must take all necessary steps to protect the confidentiality of participants. Building trust and maintaining ethical integrity are crucial for ensuring the validity and legitimacy of the research.
V. The Future of Consumer Anthropology:
The field of consumer anthropology is constantly evolving. The rise of big data and social media provides new avenues for research, allowing for large-scale analysis of online behavior and social trends. However, the core principles remain the same: understanding the cultural context, embracing qualitative research methodologies, and focusing on the human experience. Consumer anthropology will continue to play a crucial role in understanding the complexities of consumer behavior, helping businesses to create products and services that not only meet the needs of consumers but also resonate with their values and aspirations.
Conclusion:
By understanding the cultural forces shaping consumer decisions, companies can move beyond superficial trends and connect with their customers on a much deeper level. Anthropology offers a powerful toolkit to understand the "why" behind the "buy," leading to more effective product development, targeted marketing, and ultimately, more successful businesses. It’s a fascinating field that reminds us that consumer behavior is deeply human, driven by a complex interplay of individual needs, cultural norms, and social dynamics.
FAQs:
Q: What's the difference between consumer anthropology and market research? A: While both aim to understand consumers, consumer anthropology takes a deeper dive into cultural context and uses qualitative methods like ethnography, whereas market research often relies more on quantitative data like surveys.
Q: Can consumer anthropology be used for all types of products? A: Yes, the principles of consumer anthropology can be applied to a wide range of products and services, from everyday items to luxury goods and even complex technological devices.
Q: How expensive is consumer anthropological research? A: It can be more costly than traditional surveys, but the depth of insight often justifies the investment.
Q: How long does a consumer anthropology project typically take? A: The duration varies significantly depending on the research questions, methodologies employed, and the scale of the project.
Keywords: Consumer anthropology, product research, ethnographic research, market research, qualitative research, consumer behavior, participant observation, focus groups, marketing research, branding, product development, ethical considerations.
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Culture and Consumption Grant David McCracken, 1990-11-22 This book compiles and integrates highly innovative work aimed at bridging the fields of anthropology and consumer behavior. —Journal of Consumer Affairs . . . fascinating . . . ambitious and interesting . . . —Canadian Advertising Foundation Newsletter . . . an anthropological dig into consumerism brimming with original thought . . . —The Globe and Mail Grant McCracken has written a provocative book that puts consumerism in its place in Western society—at the centre. —Report on Business Magazine . . . a stimulating addition to knowledge and theory about the interrelationship of culture and consumption. —Choice [McCracken's] synthesis of anthropological and consumer studies material will give historians new ideas and methods to integrate into their thinking. —Maryland Historian The book offers a fresh and much needed cultural interpretation of consumption. —Journal of Consumer Policy The volume will help balance the prevailing cognitive and social psychological cast of consumer research and should stimulate more comprehensive investigation into consumer behavior. —Journal of Marketing Research . . . broad scope, enthusiasm and imagination . . . a significant contribution to the literature on consumption history, consumer behavior, and American material culture. —Winterhur Portfolio For this is a superb book, a definitive exploration of its subject that makes use of the full range of available literature. —American Journal of Sociology McCracken's book is a fine synthesis of a new current of thought that strives to create an interdisciplinary social science of consumption behaviors, a current to which folklorists have much to contribute. —Journal of American Folklore This provocative book takes a refreshing new view of the culture of consumption. McCracken examines the interplay of culture and consumer behavior from the anthropologist's point of view and provides new insights into the way we view ourselves and our society. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Hedonism, Utilitarianism, and Consumer Behavior Daniele Scarpi, 2020-05-28 This book investigates the effects of utilitarian and hedonic shopping behavior, drawing on original empirical research. Consumers have been shown to shop in one of two ways: they are either mainly driven by fun, escapism, and variety, or by need and efficiency. While previous literature has focused on the drivers of hedonic or utilitarian shopping, this book explores the consequences of these styles of shopping and addresses their impact on perceived value, money spent, and willingness to return to the store in future. The author synthesizes theories from previous studies, applying them to two key retailing contexts – intensive distribution and selective distribution. Ultimately, this book highlights the need for retailers to adopt a more consumer-based perspective to improve shopping experiences. It will prove useful for academics who want to gain a better understanding of hedonic and utilitarian behavior, and also offers practitioners with useful insights on how to target different customer segments. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Handbook of Research on Contemporary Consumerism Kaufmann, Hans Ruediger, Panni, Mohammad Fateh Ali Khan, 2019-09-20 Societal marketing has gained widespread recognition in the marketing discipline both in academia and the professional industry. The Handbook of Research on Contemporary Consumerism is an essential reference source that provides an in-depth understanding on the various aspects and issues of consumerism and reveals the critical success factors and conceptual and theoretical frameworks of these concepts from recent contexts and perspectives. Additionally, it examines the impact of identity on marketing and branding from the consumerist perspective, discusses consumerism as a source of innovation and product development, and provides insights on consumerism and profitability. Featuring research on topics such as circular economy, digital marketing, and social media, this book is ideally designed for practitioners, managers, marketers, academic researchers, and students. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Encyclopedia of Consumer Culture Dale Southerton, 2011-09-15 The Encyclopedia of Consumer Culture is the first reference work to outline the parameters of consumer culture and provide a critical, scholarly resource on consumption and consumerism. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Consumerism in Twentieth-Century Britain Matthew Hilton, 2003-11-13 This book is the first comprehensive history of consumerism as an organised social and political movement. Matthew Hilton offers a groundbreaking account of consumer movements, ideologies and organisations in twentieth-century Britain. He argues that in organisations such as the Co-operative movement and the Consumers' Association individual concern with what and how we spend our wages led to forms of political engagement too often overlooked in existing accounts of twentieth-century history. He explores how the consumer and consumerism came to be regarded by many as a third force in society with the potential to free politics from the perceived stranglehold of the self-interested actions of employers and trade unions. Finally he recovers the visions of countless consumer activists who saw in consumption a genuine force for liberation for women, the working class and new social movements as well as a set of ideas often deliberately excluded from more established political organisations. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Consumer Behavior and Insights Diane Phillips, Isabelle Szmigin, Maria Piacentini, 2020 Historical and current perspectives on consumption -- A historical context for understanding consumption -- Contemporary perspectives on consumer behavior -- Consumer research -- Micro-view of consumption -- Perceptual processes -- Learning and memory -- Personality, self, and motivation -- Attitude theory and behavior change -- Decision-making and involvement -- Macro-view of consumption -- Patterns of buyer behavior -- Groups, social processes, and communications -- Culture -- Where are we going? -- Ethics and social responsibility -- Future trends in consumer behavior -- Glossary -- Index. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Linguistic Anthropology Abani Malik, 2025-01-03 Linguistic Anthropology: Language and Culture delves into the fascinating interplay between language and culture. We cover essential topics and chapters in an easy-to-understand manner, making this book ideal for anyone looking to explore this unique field. Linguistic anthropology plays a crucial role in modern business communication, fostering innovation and development. Our book covers advanced topics like paralinguistic communication, digital marketing, the origin of language, orality, and anthropology, all presented in a structured and accessible format. This comprehensive guide provides valuable insights into advanced communication techniques, helping readers tackle various problems effectively. Whether you're a student or a professional, this book will enhance your knowledge and communication skills. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Consuming Life Zygmunt Bauman, 2013-05-08 With the advent of liquid modernity, the society of producers is transformed into a society of consumers. In this new consumer society, individuals become simultaneously the promoters of commodities and the commodities they promote. They are, at one and the same time, the merchandise and the marketer, the goods and the travelling salespeople. They all inhabit the same social space that is customarily described by the term the market. The test they need to pass in order to acquire the social prizes they covet requires them to recast themselves as products capable of drawing attention to themselves. This subtle and pervasive transformation of consumers into commodities is the most important feature of the society of consumers. It is the hidden truth, the deepest and most closely guarded secret, of the consumer society in which we now live. In this new book Zygmunt Bauman examines the impact of consumerist attitudes and patterns of conduct on various apparently unconnected aspects of social life politics and democracy, social divisions and stratification, communities and partnerships, identity building, the production and use of knowledge, and value preferences. The invasion and colonization of the web of human relations by the worldviews and behavioural patterns inspired and shaped by commodity markets, and the sources of resentment, dissent and occasional resistance to the occupying forces, are the central themes of this brilliant new book by one of the worlds most original and insightful social thinkers. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Handbook of Consumer Psychology Curtis P. Haugtvedt, Paul M. Herr, Frank R. Kardes, 2018-12-07 This Handbook contains a unique collection of chapters written by the world's leading researchers in the dynamic field of consumer psychology. Although these researchers are housed in different academic departments (ie. marketing, psychology, advertising, communications) all have the common goal of attaining a better scientific understanding of cognitive, affective, and behavioral responses to products and services, the marketing of these products and services, and societal and ethical concerns associated with marketing processes. Consumer psychology is a discipline at the interface of marketing, advertising and psychology. The research in this area focuses on fundamental psychological processes as well as on issues associated with the use of theoretical principles in applied contexts. The Handbook presents state-of-the-art research as well as providing a place for authors to put forward suggestions for future research and practice. The Handbook is most appropriate for graduate level courses in marketing, psychology, communications, consumer behavior and advertising. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: The Cambridge Handbook of Consumer Psychology Michael I. Norton, Derek D. Rucker, Cait Lamberton, 2015-09-09 Why do consumers make the purchases they do, and which ones make them truly happy? Why are consumers willing to spend huge sums of money to appear high status? This Handbook addresses these key questions and many more. It provides a comprehensive overview of consumer psychology, examining cutting-edge research at the individual, interpersonal, and societal levels. Leading scholars summarize past and current findings, and consider future lines of inquiry to deepen our understanding of the psychology behind consumers' decision making, their interactions with other consumers, and the effects of societal factors on consumption. The Cambridge Handbook of Consumer Psychology will act as a valuable guide for faculty as well as graduate and undergraduate students in psychology, marketing, management, sociology, and anthropology. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Consumer Culture Roberta Sassatelli, 2007-05-17 'Roberta Sassatelli has written a thorough and wide-ranging synthetic account of social scientific research on consumption which will set the standard for the second generation of textbooks on cultures of consumption. Consumer Culture is an appealing and lucid introduction to the major themes - historical and contemporary, theoretical and empirical - surrounding the growth, nature and consequences of consumer culture. It will be of professional interest as well as serving a student audience' - Alan Warde, University of Manchester Showing the cultural and institutional processes that have brought the notion of the 'consumer' to life, this book guides the reader on a comprehensive journey through the history of how we have come to understand ourselves as consumers in a consumer society and reveals the profound ambiguities and ambivalences inherent within. While rooted in sociology, Sassatelli draws on the traditions of history, anthropology, geography and economics to give: - A history of the rise of consumer culture around the world; - A richly illustrated analysis of theory from neo-classical economics, to critical theory, to theories of practice and ritual de-commoditization; and - A compelling discussion of the politics underlying our consumption practices. An exemplary introduction to the history and theory of consumer culture, this book provides nuanced answers to some of the most central questions of our time. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Constructing Consumer Knowledge in Market Research Johan Nilsson, 2018-02-01 Market research pervades society. It is an endeavour that connects marketing practice with methods similar to social science. Further, market research results appear as knowledge produced to inform recipients towards making productive business decisions and as a commodity sold to commissioning clients. I suggest that such commissioned knowledge production must be approached taking into account both the making and the marketing of such material. The position of market research between concerns to know through research and to market goods and services, including its own, has been approached differently in academic scholarship. Examples range from criticism against surveillance and manipulation, to calls to defining the benefits of market research techniques for organising markets and societies. Researchers have tried to explain this knowledge making for market research as a construction of objects of knowledge or as a performative phenomenon. This thesis takes an ethnographic and cultural approach to market research work and the researchers that undertake it. Based on fieldwork with Swedish firm Norna (pseudonym) and handbooks from industry organisation ESOMAR, the thesis inquires into the epistemic practices and epistemology of market research, how market researchers consider their work influenced by the relations that they maintain and how ideas and practices in market research inform understanding of commissioned knowledge production. The thesis consists of four articles dealing with the ideas, actors and processes that engage market researchers. The first article assesses market research industry handbooks and discusses the contribution of performativity approaches in light of this local epistemology. The second article studies how market researchers shape their respondents as part of producing consumer knowledge. The third article assesses how the work processes of market research knowledge production rely on the production and distribution of ignorance to successfully keep respondents and clients at the right certainty interval. The fourth article examines client relations and how market researchers produce materials to satisfy clients as well as shape clients’ preferences and understanding. The findings of the thesis point to how market research features its own local epistemics and reflexivity on the part of researchers, but also the tensions and ambiguities involved. Market researchers handle commercial pressures and epistemic quandaries in parallel and overlapping relational practice through the production and deployment of both knowledge and ignorance. Dealing with clients and respondents transcends the distinction between the commercial and the informative. The text informs a further understanding of market research, its techniques by means of engaging with how its researchers view this activity. Further it challenges the social study of knowledge production by showing how in this case it includes concerns that are not simplistically commercial or epistemic. Marknadsundersökningar är en verksamhet i gränslandet mellan marknadsföring och samhällsvetenskapliga forskningsmetoder. Det material som marknadsundersökare tar fram ska både informera kunder och säljas till dem. Denna uppdragsbaserade kunskapsproduktion måste förstås både som kunskaps- och marknadsföringspraktik. Det är en dubbelhet som har hanterats på skilda sätt i tidigare forskning. Kritiker har diskuterat marknadsundersökningar som del av en manipulativ marknadsföringsindustri medan försvarare snarare förordat förbättrande av kunskaper kring människors behov. Skapandet av kunskap i marknadsundersökningar har ömsom setts som en konstruktion och ömsom diskuterats som ett fenomen där beskrivningen formar det som beskrivs. Avhandlingen tar sig an marknadsundersökningar genom en etnografisk studie av marknadsundersökare och deras arbete. Med utgångspunkt i handböcker från branschorganisationen ESOMAR, samt deltagande observation på det svenska marknadsundersökningsföretaget Norna (pseudonym), diskuteras marknadsundersökningar utifrån en rad fokusområden: Utsagor om kunskap såväl som praktiker i kunskapsproduktion, hur marknadsundersökare ser sin verksamhet i relation till kunder och respondenter samt hur undersökningar görs säljbara och användbare för uppdragsgivare. Avhandlingen innehåller fyra delstudier som i form av artiklar studerar olika aspekter av marknadsundersökningsarbete. Den första artikeln studerar handböcker från ESOMAR och undersöker vilket bidrag som kan göras vid analys givet att undersökarna själva formulerar idéer om sin verksamhet. Den andra artikeln handlar om hur marknadsundersökare formar deltagare i undersökningar som del av sin produktion av kunskap om konsumenter. Den tredje artikeln går igenom Nornas arbetsprocess med fokus kring hur kunskapsproduktion också handlar om att generera okunskap för att respondenter och kunder ska kunna förstå och delta. Den fjärde artikeln avhandlar relationen till undersökningens beställare och hur marknadsundersökare formar sitt material för att tillfredsställa kunden, samtidigt som deras preferenser formas för att producera ett gott mottagande av undersökningsresultat. Avhandlingen visar hur marknadsundersökningar karaktäriseras av förutsättningar för kunskapsproduktion och hur marknadsundersökare själva är reflekterande kring sitt arbete. Den ambivalens och de spänningar som kännetecknar marknadsundersökningar som verksamhet diskuteras i termer av hur marknadsundersökare samtidigt hanterar kommersiella såväl som kunskapsteoretiska aspekter av arbetet. Genom att fokusera på hur marknadsundersökningar är en relationell verksamhet visas också hur marknadsundersökare hanterar spänningar mellan vikten av att göra undersökningar som hjälper kunden och att få kunder att köpa undersökningar. Genom att utgå från hur marknadsundersökare själva ser på dessa frågor ger studien en sammanvägd bild av hur uppdragsbaserad kunskapsproduktion handlar om såväl relationsarbete som att skapa kunskap som beskriver marknader och konsumenter. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Handbook of Anthropology in Business Rita M Denny, Patricia L Sunderland, 2016-06-16 In recent years announcements of the birth of business anthropology have ricocheted around the globe. The first major reference work on this field, the Handbook of Anthropology in Business is a creative production of more than 60 international scholar-practitioners working in universities and corporate settings from high tech to health care. Offering broad coverage of theory and practice around the world, chapters demonstrate the vibrant tensions and innovation that emerge in intersections between anthropology and business and between corporate worlds and the lives of individual scholar-practitioners. Breaking from standard attempts to define scholarly fields as products of fixed consensus, the authors reveal an evolving mosaic of engagement and innovation, offering a paradigm for understanding anthropology in business for years to come. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: The why of the Buy Lorynn Divita, Patricia Mink Rath, Stefani Bay, Richard Petrizzi, Penny Gill, 2023 Even as the fashion industry changes rapidly with new technologies, styles and trendsetters, one thing remains constant: the customer is key. But with more competition than ever before, how do fashion brands reach elusive customers and even more crucially, establish loyalty? And how do consumers ultimately decide what to buy--and why? This thoroughly updated third edition introduces core concepts of consumer behavior through a unique fashion perspective. Ideal for fashion merchandising and marketing courses. The Why of the Buy explains the motivation behind consumer choice and purchase in a clear manner using industry examples. -- Back cover. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: A Time for Critique Bernard E. Harcourt, Didier Fassin, 2019-09-10 In a world of political upheaval, rising inequality, catastrophic climate change, and widespread doubt of even the most authoritative sources of information, is there a place for critique? This book calls for a systematic reappraisal of critical thinking—its assumptions, its practices, its genealogy, its predicament—following the principle that critique can only start with self-critique. In A Time for Critique, Didier Fassin, Bernard E. Harcourt, and a group of eminent political theorists, anthropologists, sociologists, philosophers, and literary and legal scholars reflect on the multiplying contexts and forms of critical discourse and on the social actors and social movements engaged in them. How can one maintain sufficient distance from the eventful present without doing it an injustice? How can one address contemporary issues without repudiating the intellectual legacies of the past? How can one avoid the disconnection between theory and action? How can critique be both public and collective? These provocative questions are addressed by revisiting the works of Foucault and Arendt, Said and Césaire, Benjamin and Du Bois, but they are also given substance through on-the-ground case studies that treat subaltern criticism in Palestine, emancipatory mobilizations in Syria, the antitorture campaigns of Sri Lankan activists, and the abolitionism of the African American critical resistance and undercommons movements in the United States. Examining lucidly the present challenges of critique, A Time for Critique shows how its theoretical reassessment and its emerging forms can illuminate the imaginative modalities to rejuvenate critical praxis. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Political Consumerism Dietlind Stolle, Michele Micheletti, 2013-08-26 Political Consumerism captures the creative ways in which consumers and citizens turn to the market as their arena for politics. This book theorizes, describes, analyzes, compares, and evaluates how political consumers target corporations to solve globalized problems. It demonstrates the reconfiguration of civic engagement, political participation, and citizenship. Unlike other studies, this book also evaluates if and how consumer actions are or can become effective mechanisms of global change. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Consumerism Steven Miles, 1998-08-31 This book provides an introduction to the historical and theoretical foundations of consumerism. It then moves on to examine the experience of consumption in the areas of space and place, technology, fashion, `popular' music and sport. Throughout, the author brings a critical perspective to bear upon the subject, thus providing a reliable and stimulating guide to a complex and many-sided field. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Qualitative Communication Research Methods Thomas R. Lindlof, Bryan C. Taylor, 2002-09-11 The Second Edition of Qualitative Communication Research Methods offers updated comprehensive coverage of such topics as naturalistic inquiry, interpretive paradigm, ethnomethodology, symbolic interactionism, sampling and linearity, with new studies in the areas of culture analysis and cyberspace ethnography. Numerous examples of work in the field illustrating how studies are designed, carried out, written, evaluated, and applied to theory make this an interesting and accessible text. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Product Design Jonathan Chapman, 2017-05-08 As a cultivated form of invention, product design is a deeply human phenomenon that enables us to shape, modify and alter the world around us – for better or worse. The recent emergence of the sustainability imperative in product design compels us to recalibrate the parameters of good design in an unsustainable age. Written by designers, for designers, the Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Product Design presents the first systematic overview of the burgeoning field of sustainable product design. Brimming with intelligent viewpoints, critical propositions, practical examples and rich theoretical analyses, this book provides an essential point of reference for scholars and practitioners at the intersection of product design and sustainability. The book takes readers to the depth of our engagements with the designed world to advance the social and ecological purpose of product design as a critical twenty-first-century practice. Comprising 35 chapters across 6 thematic parts, the book’s contributors include the most significant international thinkers in this dynamic and evolving field. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: The Social Design Reader Elizabeth Resnick, 2019-07-11 The Social Design Reader explores the ways in which design can be a catalyst for social change. Bringing together key texts of the last fifty years, editor Elizabeth Resnick traces the emergence of the notion of socially responsible design. This volume represents the authentic voices of the thinkers, writers and designers who are helping to build a 'canon' of informed literature which documents the development of the discipline. The Social Design Reader is divided into three parts. Section 1: Making a Stand includes an introduction to the term 'social design' and features papers which explore its historical underpinnings. Section 2: Creating the Future documents the emergence of social design as a concept, as a nascent field of study, and subsequently as a rapidly developing professional discipline, and Section 3: A Sea Change is made up of papers acknowledging social design as a firmly established practice. Contextualising section introductions are provided to aid readers in understanding the original source material, while summary boxes clearly articulate how each text fits with the larger milieu of social design theory, methods, and practice. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Routledge Handbook on Consumption Margit Keller, Bente Halkier, Terhi-Anna Wilska, Monica Truninger, 2017-02-10 Consumption research is burgeoning across a wide range of disciplines. The Routledge Handbook on Consumption gathers experts from around the world to provide a nuanced overview of the latest scholarship in this expanding field. At once ambitious and timely, the volume provides an ideal map for those looking to position their work, find new analytic insights and identify research gaps. With an intuitive thematic structure and resolutely international outlook, it engages with theory and methodology; markets and businesses; policies, politics and the state; and culture and everyday life. It will be essential reading for students and scholars across the social and economic sciences. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Consumerism in the Ancient World Justin St. P. Walsh, 2013-11-26 Greek pottery was exported around the ancient world in vast quantities over a period of several centuries. This book focuses on the Greek pottery consumed by people in the western Mediterranean and trans-Alpine Europe from 800-300 BCE, attempting to understand the distribution of vases, and particularly the reasons why people who were not Greek decided to acquire them. This new approach includes discussion of the ways in which objects take on different meanings in new contexts, the linkages between the consumption of goods and identity construction, and the utility of objects for signaling positive information about their owners to their community. The study includes a database of almost 24,000 artifacts from more than 230 sites in Portugal, Spain, France, Switzerland, and Germany. This data was mapped and analyzed using geostatistical techniques to reveal different patterns of consumption in different places and at different times. The development of the new approaches explored in this book has resulted in a shift away from reliance on the preserved fragments of ancient Greek authors’ descriptions of western Europe, remains of monumental buildings, and major artworks, and toward investigation of social life and more prosaic forms of material culture. ADDITIONAL E-RESOURCES FOR THIS BOOK ARE AVAILABLE: https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/art_data/1/ |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: The SAGE Handbook of Social Marketing Gerard Hastings, Kathryn Angus, Carol Bryant, 2011-11-15 For the first time, this benchmark handbook brings together a systematic framework and state-of-the-art thinking to provide complete coverage of the social marketing discipline. It presents a major retrospective and prospective overview of social marketing, helping to define and shape its current and future developments by: - examining the defining elements of social marketing, their intellectual origins, evolution, current status and direction of travel; - discussing how these have been used in practice, emphasising emerging areas and recent innovations; and - setting the agenda for future research and development in the discipline. For academics, this book will fill the gap in comprehensive social marketing literature, while being of interest to policymakers and post-graduate marketing and health studies students alike as it explores the idea that tools used to market fast-moving consumer goods and financial services can also be applied to pressing social problems. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Culture and Consumption II Grant David McCracken, 2005 * New insights into modern consumer culture by a master critic |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Techniques of Pleasure Margot Weiss, 2011-12-20 In this lively ethnography, Weiss studies the pansexual BDSM community in the San Francisco Bay Area. Weiss finds that BDSM practice is not as transgressive as the participants imagine, nor is it simply reinforcing of older forms of social domination. Instead she shows how fantasy play depends on pre-existing social hierarchies, even as it also participates in a commodification of desires. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Essentials of Marketing Research , |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: The Oxford Handbook of Consumption Dr. Frederick F. Wherry, Dr. Ian Woodward, 2019-09-09 The Oxford Handbook of Consumption consolidates the most innovative recent work conducted by social scientists in the field of consumption studies and identifies some of the most fruitful lines of inquiry for future research. It begins by embedding marketing in its global history, enmeshed in various political, economic, and social sites. From this embedded perspective, the book branches out to examine the rise of consumer culture theory among consumer researchers and parallel innovative developments in sociology and anthropology, with scholarship analyzing the roles that identity, social networks, organizational dynamics, institutions, market devices, materiality, and cultural meanings play across a wide variety of applications, including, but not limited to, brands and branding, the sharing economy, tastes and preferences, credit and credit scoring, consumer surveillance, race and ethnicity, status, family life, well-being, environmental sustainability, social movements, and social inequality. The volume is unique in the attention it gives to consumer research on inequality and the focus it has on consumer credit scores and consumer behaviors that shape life chances. The volume includes essays by many of the key researchers in the field, some of whom have only recently, if at all, crossed the disciplinary lines that this volume has enabled. The contributors have tried to address several key questions: What motivates consumption and what does it mean to be a consumer? What social, technical, and cultural systems integrate and give character to contemporary consumption? What actors, institutions, and understandings organize and govern consumption? And what are the social uses and effects of consumption? |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Handbook of Marketing Scales William O. Bearden, Richard G. Netemeyer, 1999-11-12 A total of 192 multi-item scales, each presented in a consistent format, on topics such as individual behaviour, consumer psychology, values and attitudes are provided in this 2nd edition. A comprehensive index is included. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Research Methodology Ranjit Kumar, 2010-11-12 Written specifically for students with no previous experience of research and research methodology, the Third Edition of Research Methodology breaks the process of designing and doing a research project into eight manageable steps and provides plenty of examples throughout to link theory to the practice of doing research. The book contains straightforward, practical guidance on: - Formulating a research question - Ethical considerations - Carrying out a literature review - Choosing a research design - Selecting a sample - Collecting and analysing qualitative and quantitative data - Writing a research report The third edition has been revised and updated to include extended coverage of qualitative research methods in addition to the existing comprehensive coverage of quantitative methods. There are also brand new learning features such as reflective questions throughout the text to help students consolidate their knowledge. The book is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students in the social sciences embarking on qualitative or quantitative research projects. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: The Comfort of Things Daniel Miller, 2013-04-24 What do we know about ordinary people in our towns and cities, about what really matters to them and how they organize their lives today? This book visits an ordinary street and looks into thirty households. It reveals the aspirations and frustrations, the tragedies and accomplishments that are played out behind the doors. It focuses on the things that matter to these people, which quite often turn out to be material things – their house, the dog, their music, the Christmas decorations. These are the means by which they express who they have become, and relationships to objects turn out to be central to their relationships with other people – children, lovers, brothers and friends. If this is a typical street in a modern city like London, then what kind of society is this? It’s not a community, nor a neighbourhood, nor is it a collection of isolated individuals. It isn’t dominated by the family. We assume that social life is corrupted by materialism, made superficial and individualistic by a surfeit of consumer goods, but this is misleading. If the street isn’t any of these things, then what is it? This brilliant and revealing portrayal of a street in modern London, written by one the most prominent anthropologists, shows how much is to be gained when we stop lamenting what we think we used to be and focus instead on what we are now becoming. It reveals the forms by which ordinary people make sense of their lives, and the ways in which objects become our companions in the daily struggle to make life meaningful. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Developing Focus Group Research Jenny Kitzinger, Rosaline Barbour, 1999-02-22 This book critically examines the potential of, and suggests ways forward in, harnessing a versatile and powerful method of research - focus groups. The book challenges some of the emerging orthodoxies and presents accessible, insightful and reflective discussions about the issues around focus group work. The contributors, an impressive group of experienced researchers from a range of disciplines and traditions, discuss different ways of designing, conducting and analyzing focus group research. They examine sampling strategies; the implications of combining focus groups with other methods; accessing views of `minority' groups; their contribution to participatory or feminist research; use of software packages; discourse anal |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Getting and Spending Susan Strasser, Charles McGovern, Matthias Judt, 1998-11-13 The developing history of consumption is not so much a separate field, as a prism through which many aspects of social and political life may be viewed. The essays in this collection represent a variety of approaches in Europe and America; yet their commonalities suggest recent directions in the scholarship, raising such themes as consumption and democracy, the development of a global economy, the role of the state, the centrality of consumption to Cold War politics, the importance of the Second World War as a historical divide, the language of consumption, the contexts of locality, race, ethnicity, gender, and class, and the environmental consequences of twentieth-century consumer society. Implicitly, and sometimes explicitly, they explore the role of the historian as social, political, and moral critic. The essays discuss products, corporate strategies, government policies, and ideas about consumption. Unlike other studies of twentieth-century consumption, this book provides international comparisons. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Grounded Theory Christina Goulding, 2002-07-24 Grounded Theory represents a primer for organisational, business and marketing students studying for research degrees who would like to adopt the grounded theory methodology approach for their dissertation or thesis. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Consumer Behavior Michael R. Solomon, 1999 Super-client introduction to consumer behavior which uses the latest behavioral theories to give a practical discussion of the buying behaviors of consumers in all cultures. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: The Handbook of Marketing Research Rajiv Grover, Marco Vriens, 2006-06-23 The Handbook of Marketing Research comprehensively explores the approaches for delivering market insights for fact-based decision making in a market-oriented firm. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Consumption and Everyday Life Mark Paterson, 2006 This engaging book introduces key ideas and theorists of consumption in an accessible way. Case studies that describe familiar acts of consumption from areas of everyday life are used to ground relevant debates and ideas. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Ethnography Through Thick and Thin George E. Marcus, 1998-12-13 Imagining the whole: ethnography's contemporary efforts to situate itself (1989) -- Requirements for ethnographies of late-twentieth-century modernity worldwide (1991) -- Ethnography in/of the world system: the emergence of multi-sited ethnography (1995) -- The uses of complicity in the changing mise-en-scène of anthropological fieldwork (1997) -- Power on the extreme periphery: the perspective of Tongan elites in the modern world system (1980) -- The problem of the unseen world of wealth for the rich: toward an ethnography of complex connections (1989) -- On eccentricity (1995) -- On ideologies of reflexivity in contemporary efforts to remake the human sciences (1994) -- Critical cultural studies as one power/knowledge like, among, and in engagement with others (1997) -- Sticking with ethnography through thick and thin (1997). |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: WTF?: What's the Future of Business? Brian Solis, 2013-03-06 In today’s rapidly changing digital environment, Darwinism is alive and well. What’s the Future of Business doesn't just explore trends and theories; it introduces a dynamic, actionable path to transformation. —Evan Greene, CMO, The Recording Academy, Producers of the GRAMMY Awards Rethink your business model to incorporate the power of user experiences What’s the Future of Business? will galvanize a new movement that aligns the tenets of user experience with the vision of innovative leadership to improve business performance, engagement, and relationships for a new generation of consumerism. It provides an overview of real-world experiences versus user experiences in relation to products, services, mobile, social media, and commerce, among others. This book explains why experience is everything and how the future of business will come down to shared experiences. Aligns the tenets of user experience with the concepts of innovative leadership to improve business performance and engagement and to motivate readers to rethink business models and customer and employee relationships Motivates readers to rethink business models, products and services, marketing, and customer and employee relationships with desired experiences in mind Brian Solis is globally recognized as one of the most prominent thought leaders and published authors in new media, and is the author of Engage! and The End of Business as Usual! Discover how user experience design affects your business, and how you can harness its power for meaningful revenue growth |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Blindsight Matt Johnson, Prince Ghuman, 2020-05-19 Ever notice that all watch ads show 10:10 as the time? Or that all fast-food restaurants use red or yellow in their logos? Or that certain stores are always having a sale? You may not be aware of these details, yet they've been influencing you all along. Every time you purchase, swipe, or click, marketers are able to more accurately predict your behavior. These days, brands know more about you than you know about yourself. Blindsight is here to change that. With eye-opening science, engaging stories, and fascinating real-world examples, neuroscientist Matt Johnson and marketer Prince Ghuman dive deep into the surprising relationship between brains and brands. In Blindsight, they showcase how marketing taps every aspect of our mental lives, covering the neuroscience of pain and pleasure, emotion and logic, fear and safety, attention and addiction, and much more. We like to think of ourselves as independent actors in control of our decisions, but the truth is far more complicated. Blindsight will give you the ability to see the unseeable when it comes to marketing, so that you can consume on your own terms. On the surface, you will learn how the brain works and how brands design for it. But peel back a layer, and you'll find a sharper image of your psychology, reflected in your consumer behavior. This book will change the way you view not just branding, but yourself, too. |
| anthropology of consumerism and product research methodology: Encyclopedia of Environmental Health , 2008-09-01 Environmental health has evolved over time into a complex, multidisciplinary field. Many of the key determinants and solutions to environmental health problems lie outside the direct realm of health and are strongly dependent on environmental changes, water and sanitation, industrial development, education, employment, trade, tourism, agriculture, urbanization, energy, housing and national security. Environmental risks, vulnerability and variability manifest themselves in different ways and at different time scales. While there are shared global and transnational problems, each community, country or region faces its own unique environmental health problems, the solution of which depends on circumstances surrounding the resources, customs, institutions, values and environmental vulnerability. This work contains critical reviews and assessments of environmental health practices and research that have worked in places and thus can guide programs and economic development in other countries or regions. The Encyclopedia of Environmental Health, Five Volume Set seeks to conceptualize the subject more clearly, to describe the best available scientific methods that can be used in characterizing and managing environmental health risks, to extend the field of environmental health through new theoretical perspectives and heightened appreciation of social, economic and political contexts, and to encourage a richer analysis in the field through examples of diverse experiences in dealing with the health-environment interface. The Encyclopedia of Environmental Health contains numerous examples of policy options and environmental health practices that have worked and thus can guide programs in other countries or regions It includes a wide range of tools and strategies that can assist communities and countries in assessing environmental health conditions, monitoring progress of intervention implementation and evaluating outcomes Provides a comprehensive overview of existing knowledge in this emerging field Articles contain summaries and assessments of environmental health practices and research, providing a framework for further research Places environmental health in the broader context of environmental change and related ecological, political, economic, social, and cultural issues |
