Ethnography

Also known as: Consumer Ethnography, Observation Research, Field Research

Qualitative research method that studies consumers in their natural context, observing real rather than reported behaviors.

Ethnography is a qualitative research methodology that studies consumers in their natural environment—home, supermarket, workplace—observing their real behaviors rather than relying solely on what they declare in surveys or focus groups. Originally from anthropology, market ethnography captures insights the consumer doesn't know or can't verbalize.

Main advantages: reveals the gap between what people say they do and what they actually do (the 'say-do gap'), captures unconscious behaviors, and identifies improvement opportunities that don't emerge in declarative research.

Limitations: high cost, small scale (typically 15-30 participants), and the observer effect (the researcher's presence may modify behavior).

Digital ethnography and mobile ethnography techniques are reducing these barriers by allowing behavioral observation through smartphones without the researcher's physical presence.