The Business of Ethnography

Ethnography has suddenly become a buzzword in the business world. But there is not much clarity on how to use this tool effectively in business. Many businesses confuse ethnography with anthropology and think that it is not suitable for the fast paced business world.

Over a half-century ago, an anthropologist conducting ethnography for a clothing manufacturer observed children and mothers at home and at play. His gaze fixed on overalls, the anthropologist recommended that the manufacturer double-stitch the seams of that garment, previously single stitched, in order that it withstand frequent launderings, and he also suggested the company replace buttons on the straps with metal grippers in order to extend the life of the overalls as the child wearing it grew. This case study appears in a 1961 article titled "Anthropology's Contributions to Marketing" that also lists several other ethnographic encounters with the business of research, from the design of products like chairs and knobs to the development of cosmetics ads that incorporated the culture's symbolic understanding of a woman's eye and mouth.

This article shows that ethnography had been in existence for some time and that it can be effectively applied to businesses. We also realize that it is often rapid ethnography that provides insights that can be turned into profitable business ideas.

Rapid Ethnography

This is an observational technique for going to the prospective users of a product or service and observing the activities they perform, their interactions, and the subculture in which they live, work, learn, and play. Rapid ethnography is critical to the invention of new product classes.

Rapid ethnography shares many of the characteristics of ethnography, but differs in two main ways:

1) More than one researcher is always involved in data collection and the teamwork is essential for data triangulation;

2) More than one researcher is involved in an iterative approach to data analysis and additional data collection.

Ethnography in Business

Case of Revolution Showerheads

In 1996 Moen Inc. was determined to figure out what people really wanted in a showerhead. It engaged QualiData Research to conduct an ethnographic study.

This case provided a challenge, since it would be difficult to actually observe anyone using a shower. QualiData Inc decided to meet this challenge by installing a small moisture-proof camera next to the showerhead of volunteers.

So in 1996 and again in 2001, QualiData taped several dozen people of all shapes and sizes while a camera crew monitored the event from just outside the bathroom.

On tape, the subjects used the water to relax or energize themselves. They lost track of time. One man prayed. The team realized that for many people having a shower was more than a cleaning experience. Based on Moen's research, its "Revolution" showerhead was born.

Priced at the upper end of showerheads, the "Revolution" offers users a dial that can can be easily adjusted with one hand. The showerhead spins the droplets, which hit all points of the body with more force.

The rapid ethnography gave a much better understanding about what occurs in people's showers. And it reinforced one principle that many observational researchers agree on: They can delve into very private areas as long as the consumer has the choice up front not to participate.

Case of Mumbai Public Transport Security System

As part of our course work we had taken up a project on improving the transportation system of Mumbai. Our focus in this study was to bring about a change in the Mumbai Suburban Railway network. The system carries more than 6.9 million commuters on a daily basis and constitutes more than half of the total daily passenger capacity of the Indian Railways itself. It has one of the highest passenger densities of any urban railway system in the world.

To understand areas where improvement could take place, we decided to conduct an ethnographic study. In the first phase of the study, we decide to talk with the primary stakeholders. We identified different types of users of the system like daily commuters, travelers, one time visitors, students. We then observed the crowds and made notes. We went on to deal with a variety of data collection methods such as participant observation, on-site interviewing and documentation by photography and audio- and video-taping. The ethnography study for the primary stakeholders went on for a week

As we observed the crowds, we noticed few recurring patterns: Most people were keeping their luggage close to themselves. This was true especially true for first time visitors. We realized that most people were not just afraid of their baggage getting lost but were also apprehensive of it getting stuck in the crowd. We also observed many commuters whose bags got stuck as the boarded the trains.

Many visitors were unsure of the platform from which they could catch their train and appeared confused and flustered. There was no accessible information center that they could go to. One of the insights that we realized was that there was a need to have better signage which told the commuter the stations that the train would take them.

We also observed that in the minutes before the train arrived, people would stand on the platform and look at the food stalls but would not actually go there. We realized that passengers were torn between wanting to eat and not wanting to miss their train. Our interviews also led us to discover that the commuters were primarily concerned with the safety in the trains. Many people responded to our queries by saying that they would like for a security guard to be present in every coach. On talking to the disabled and the aged who regularly travelled in the trains, we realized that they felt that the health facilities were really poor.

We then started interviewing the secondary stakeholders. We spoke with the drivers, signal operators, the station masters, operators of the food stalls, and other vendors present at the railway stations. We asked them to describe a typical day in their lives. We also spoke with retired railway employees and asked them how the system had changed since the time they were employees. Through our conversations we realized that safety was a concern even for the drivers. They also worried about the actions that they would have to take in case of emergency in the train.

Using these insights, we developed a proposal of bringing high end security systems to the public transport system but at lower costs. The security system was designed keeping in mind the need for handling large crowds. The system integrated the security cameras already in operation to new systems like heat sensors. We also proposed setting up of a security center at each station with dedicated personnel.

Conclusion

These bits of ethnographic findings illustrate the kind of insight we can generate, useful knowledge to inform an array of business decisions: branding, marketing, programming, operations, public relations, and customer service and product development. By means of ethnography, we can find sites of tremendous growth and opportunity.