Why do advertising campaigns and new products often fail? Why do consumers feel that companies do not understand their needs? One answer to these questions is that marketers do not think deeply about consumers’ thoughts and feelings. Successful and innovative marketing strategies are always based on an in-depth understanding of consumer behavior. The purpose of ethnography is to dig deep and excavate an empathetic understanding of consumer behavior. Ethnography, with its focus on observed everyday shopper behavior, has become the method of choice to identify unmet consumer needs, generate novel insights, and contribute ideas for creative marketing strategies.

This course is designed for managers who would like to learn more about ethnography as it is used in consumer research. The course is designed to capture the academic aspects of ethnography but does so from a practical, useful point of view. With thought-provoking case studies and brand stories, participants will learn how to conduct consumer studies, why these studies are so important, and how to commission ethnographic projects that may help their company.

Program Delivery and Structure

This program consists of two, full-day sessions (8:30 AM—4:00 PM). The first day takes place in a classroom setting and will provide participants with an overview of the type of information ethnography is designed to capture, nuts and bolts methods of data collection, approaches to data analysis, and ways this information is used for strategy development. The second day takes place in a training room and involves discussion and small group activities designed to teach participants how to do ethnography.