Editor's note: Stephen Jackson is an examiner based in Washington, D.C. He can be reached at stive@cox.net. This article appeared in the August 23, 2011, edition of Quirk's e-newsletter.

 

Latent needs of customers are product or service requirements that customers don't even know they want. In some cases, latent needs are solutions that customers cannot envision, perhaps because of lack of exposure to new technologies or being locked in habits and thought processes developed over time. In addressing latent needs, ethnographic research, a technique developed by anthropologists, may be a good starting point.

 

Questions, not answers

 

Ethnographic research is most valuable when generating questions, not answers. In fact, it's best to think of ethnographic research not as a replacement for other forms of investigation but as a first step to take before launching into other qualitative or quantitative techniques.

 

Firsthand observation of customers in their own environment - interacting with a product or service - can deliver great insight. Ethnography relies heavily on observation of consumers as opposed to consumer inquiry. By avoiding structured inquiries, ethnography avoids possible biases in surveys and questions and minimizes the chance that consumers will provide false information. Traditional inquiry-based market research often fails to capture latent customer needs that can be identified only by observation.

 

An inside look

 

Using the anthropologist's toolkit of methods and theories, ethnographers are giving corporations an inside look at the cultural trends, attitudes and lifestyle factors that influence consumer decisions. Ethnographic research was first pigeonholed as academic and somewhat mysterious but during the last few years, as marketers have sought to establish real connections with their customers, ethnography has been steadily gaining traction as a commercial market research tool.

 

Today, corporations such as IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Pitney Bowes and Procter & Gamble have in-house ethnographers, while advertising agencies use ethnographic techniques in developing brand strategies for marketers including Home Depot and Talbot's. Companies that design everything from household appliances to PDAs are taking a closer look at how people really live. They have realized it's futile to invent technology and then try to convince consumers they need it.

 

Comes at a price

 

But this level of insight comes at a price and rightly so. Ethnography is time- and labor-intensive and requires a specialist researcher. The data that emerges is often complex, nebulous and difficult to interpret. Compressed product cycles are also putting pressure on the otherwise lengthy time span that ethnographic research requires. However, difficulty should not be a barrier to successful marketing research. Breakthroughs never come easy.