Fed up with focus groups? Why visual ethnography makes sense as a research technique

Editor’s note: Mark Cooper is managing director of the Insight Works, a New York research firm.

Are your qualitative market research techniques bringing you the full range of insights into consumer behavior? Knowing that consumers don’t always do what they say - or say what they do - you need research techniques that tell you what focus groups and self-administered surveys won’t. Visual ethnography - a contextual, behavioral-based research method - documents the activities of consumers’ daily lives in the places where those activities usually occur, bringing you consumer insights that you cannot get from any other research technique. Visual ethnography observes what consumers do - how they overcome obstacles and discover inventive uses for conventional products. It doesn’t ask them to remember what they have done in the past or predict what they may do in the future, but instead listens to them describe what they are doing right now and why. And it works in the environments where respondents are most familiar and most comfortable, surrounded by the people and things that shape what they do. These ethnographic methods bridge the gap between what consumers say and what they do, providing insights that can be used throughout the product cycle, from strategy development through product design and direct communication with the consumer.

Here are some examples of insights selected by our anthropologists from recent ethnographic work.

Water usage - excess valves, filtration and conservation

Our firm engaged in a visual ethnography project for a global fashion plumbing and accessory products company. The objective of our research was to understand the role water and water appliances play in family plans for home design, décor and home improvement. We were interested in learning about consumers’ unmet needs in relation to water usage in and outside the home. In particular we wanted to help this company discover new opportunities for installing residential valves.

Our ethnographers, accompanied by professional videographers, studied 19 families in three markets: Westchester, N.Y.; Orange County, Calif.; and Phoenix. We focused on family members’ daily water-related activities in their kitchens, bathrooms, garages, family rooms and outdoor areas. In so doing, we were able to observe and document their behavior in a natural atmosphere. In addition to asking interview questions, our researchers were able to develop lines of questioning born of observation that might never have been predicted prior to entering the field.

As a result of our video ethnographic inquiry, we found that older Baby Boomers are not necessarily retiring to Florida anymore. Rather they are “rewiring” their careers; they are developing new occupational expertise and identities. Hence, one of our key findings was that as people “rewire,” rather than invest funds into new homes, they remodel their current homes to meet their changing lifestyle and career needs. Some, for example, remake teenagers’ old rooms into home offices. Some turn master bedrooms into hotel-like suites. Still others transform family rooms into mini professional gyms where they train private clients.

Our video ethnographic research provided us with the means to discover these consumers’ unmet needs in relation to water usage. People talked about, for example, their desire to build a “beverage station” with easily accessible drinking water in their newly designed home gyms, thereby allowing us to uncover one possible site to add in new residential valves. In short, the video documentary of the metamorphosed rooms allowed us to help our client learn about new opportunities to design, develop, install and market water valves.

The paradox of pain and exercise

The Insight Works conducted ethnographic research for a prescription medication developed by a leading pharmaceutical company to alleviate severe episodic pain. The goal of this research was to understand the mindset of middle-aged exercisers who use pain medication to maintain their active lifestyle. The anthropologists interviewed and observed six people as they went through part of their exercise routines (five in outdoor parks and one in an indoor gym).

A key finding was that most of these individuals had been athletes in their youth and were still holding onto their identity as an athlete (or at least an active person) even when the facts contradicted this self-perception. We learned that their current exercise routines are often efforts to try to recapture, retain or regain youthfulness. One poignant example of this was the memory of high school track meets and moving “like a flock of birds” through Prospect Park that a walk though this park triggered for one 49-year-old subject. In this project, visual ethnography enabled us to capture the body language and facial and vocal expressions that conveyed the emotional struggle that results from the gap between subjects’ self-perception (“I’m an athlete”) and their daily reality (pain, aging and physical limitations).

The research also enabled us to identify an important emotional struggle among middle-aged people who exercised with arthritis-related pain. We learned that people are not simply fighting pain and the aging process but are often engaged in a battle to retain a core part of their identity (young, athletic, fit and active). Thus, the drug’s advertising can tap into the feelings and motivations of this group by presenting an inspiring portrait of individuals who are fighting and winning this battle.

The role of pictures in a digital world

We performed a project for a worldwide producer of photographic products on how families use digital photography and printing. Our objective was to understand the role of photography in consumers’ lives and how digital technology has changed the ways consumers take, store, share and print photographs. In particular, we wanted to discover consumer attitudes towards printing at this company’s retail kiosks, an important strategic growth area.

Ethnographers conducted six videotaped interviews and home tours in three markets: San Francisco, Houston, and Danbury, Conn. Respondents were asked to reflect upon the importance of photography in their families’ lives; to show favorite photographs and how they were displayed in the home; to demonstrate how they use digital technology and talk about its benefits and frustrations; and to discuss what they hope to see in the future of digital photography and printing.

We discovered that family photography is an activity primarily performed by females to commemorate and record family events. Digital technology has given these consumers greater confidence in their abilities, since they can immediately check the results in the viewfinder, and continue retaking the shot until they get the image they need. The instant gratification and sense of control that these women enjoy when taking photographs, however, does not extend to the process of printing their images. Few of these women feel confident in their abilities to enhance their photographs using computer editing software, or to print them at a satisfactory level of quality (clear, unpixelated, with crisp colors). Some continue experimenting at home, some entrust the printing process to an online or retail printer, and others do not print at all. Furthermore, overall levels of printing have significantly decreased, since consumers can share photographs by e-mail, create digital photo albums, and only choose the best photographs to print.

In discussing their expectations of digital printing, most of the women stressed the importance of the quality of their digital prints. Conducting interviews in the respondents’ homes, however, allowed the ethnographers to pursue contradictions that would not have been apparent in a self-administered survey or a focus group. Home tours revealed that most of the displayed photographs consisted of professional portraits, particularly in the formal areas of the home. The kind of candid photography that digital technology makes so easy was only to be found in temporary displays in more casual areas (such as the home office or on the refrigerator), and these images were chosen by virtue of their content and not the quality of the image.

We concluded, therefore, that consumers want the simplicity, convenience and instant gratification of digital photography to extend to their digital prints. We suggested that our client should build on consumers’ positive experience of digital photography and its own brand profile as the maker of high-quality, competitively-priced 35mm film, by emphasizing the speed, simplicity and low cost of printing at this company’s retail kiosks, and by conveniently locating these kiosks in grocery or department stores where the consumer already shops. Thus this manufacturer of photographic products could market itself as the brand that gives consumers the high-quality images they have come to expect from the brand, but in a number of new, simple and convenient ways, whether at home, online or at retail.

Hispanics and department stores

In order to better understand the mindset of immigrant Hispanic women, especially the emotional motivations for their shopping practices, a leading chain of department stores asked our firm to investigate shopping behavior among Hispanic families in the Chicago area. They wanted to understand whether their general-market pillars of convenience, brands and value resonated with these Hispanic women shoppers.

Since, unlike women in the general market, Hispanic women usually shop with a friend or relative, we conducted six in-home pre-recruited friendship groups with three people each. All of the groups were conducted in Spanish by the anthropologist and filmed by a professional videographer. In each group, the participants, since they knew each other well, were open, relaxed and lively. The discussions covered these women’s experiences negotiating this country as immigrants, their families and hopes for the future, their shopping experiences and strategies, their opinions on product brands, the differences among stores and their relevant financial issues.

After each discussion, two subjects from each group went shopping together, accompanied by the anthropologist and videographer, who now carried a hidden camera. In some cases, children accompanying their mothers added another dimension of realism to the study. Three “shop-alongs” took place at one of the client’s department stores, while three took place at competitive stores. In this phase of the research, the anthropologist asked few questions. Rather, she observed the women as they went through the store, felt and examined clothes and household items, analyzed together why, how and when they might purchase an item, gossiped and laughed, played around, tried on clothing and made a purchase.

A key finding of the study was that many immigrants felt that they had sacrificed the sense of freedom and safety they had in their home countries when they moved to the United States in search of greater economic stability. One woman said, with tears in her eyes, “We came here with diapers on,” new to the world, unaware of and unprepared for the challenges that awaited them. Shopping with relatives or friends provided a comfortable atmosphere outside of the home where they could take their time, reconnect socially and feel safe and free to do what they wanted. Additionally, they used shopping as a way to learn and stay informed about American culture. Thus, shopping meant much more to immigrant Hispanic women than just making purchases.

Following this finding, it became clear for our client that the mainstream market pillar of “convenience” did not translate as an important issue for Hispanic shoppers. The Insight Works recommended that they offer this shopper an environment in the store that gives her the freedom she yearns for and the control of her life that she values. Additionally, the department store’s advertising should encourage her to experience shopping as an event where she is free not only to explore and to experiment but to use shopping as a bonding and social occasion.

Expanding usage for a leading metropolitan museum

When a major U.S. museum asked us to help them understand the motivations driving the loyalties of their most frequent visitors, we all shared the same assumption: these visitors were loyal because they had the greatest interest in what the museum exhibited. It came as a surprise then, when ethnographic research revealed that the museum’s most loyal visitors were loyal because the museum was a comfortable and familiar place for them. For these visitors, the museum is a place to relax, to spend time with family and friends, as well as to learn and to grow - the state-of-the-art exhibits serve as a backdrop, albeit an important one, for these other activities. Other visitors, who came to the museum less frequently, felt compelled to take the exhibits - and the rules - of the museum more seriously, creating a sense of unease and awkwardness that made it difficult for them to relax and enjoy their visit - and discouraged them from visiting more frequently.

The results were based on the detailed analysis of more than 150 hours of video - including intercept interviews, hidden-camera observations, in-home and in-museum ethnographic interviews, and photo journals from more than 50 visitors. We used these findings to help the museum develop a strategic plan for defining the museum experience in the 21st century - including recommendations for increasing the comfort and familiarity of less-frequent visitors that would encourage them to visit the museum more often, and ways to encourage frequent visitors to explore beyond familiar territory and to become more engaged with what the museum has to offer. In the end, the results of our research challenged conventional assumptions about museum visits, giving the museum an actionable approach to meeting the needs of today’s visitors.

Technology: a look inside the e-family home

We conducted a visual ethnographic study for a computer manufacturer about the role technology plays in the American family. Our objective was to understand the different attitudes families have toward technology and integrated multimedia and home computing systems. We were interested in finding out how technological convergence responded to their current and future needs as well as how the consumers perceived that this company’s brand could satisfy those needs.

Ethnographers conducted six in-depth family videotaped interviews and home tours in New York and Los Angeles. In-home observation allowed anthropologists to determine that consumers have practices that sometimes contradicted their discourses on technology. While technology was appreciated for the simplification, productivity and efficiency it brought to their lives, and the way it enhanced in home entertainment, it was also perceived as “dangerous” and a “controlling force” that could cause “addiction” and interfere with the quality of family time. Although families claimed that they set limits to the use of technology at home, anthropologists observed not only that most rooms had some technological device (television, VCR, DVD or computer) but that their use was also more prevalent than initially described.

During one of our in-home interviews, for example, one family with young children had them eating dinner in the kitchen while watching a video. And while showing us how the children used the home computer, the parents’ solution to the children’s fighting over the computer was to take one to watch a video. In contrast, one African-American family from New York was the most successful in setting limits to technology with their idea of a technology-free room in which the family joined to share conversation, sing and dance together and play different musical instruments.

Our findings also showed that, regardless of consumers’ comfort level with technology, they all felt behind regarding the latest technological developments. Changes in technology were experienced as too fast for them to keep up with financially and/or intellectually, thus generating strong feelings of frustration. Although consumers welcomed new technological developments and fantasized about complete interconnectivity at home, they also considered the technology they currently had as satisfactory for their needs.

We also found that consumers had not yet been able to catch up with their current technologies. Thus what they wanted the most from technology companies was to partner with them in their learning process and to provide them with good technical support that offered them solutions to their technical problems. This finding was used to reinforce a new purpose and brand positioning for this computer company so that it could be identified as a “total solutions partner.” This computer company also became aware that consumers in severe weather areas might be more likely to invest in new technologies and get more involved in the learning process because they spend more time at home.

Learned some lessons

In more than five years of conducting these types of studies we have learned some lessons about the successful execution of visual ethnographic research.

Imaginative recruiting is critical to the selection of subjects that will provide the anthropologists with the depth of interaction necessary for the development of actionable insights. We design and personalize the screener for each individual project.

Having our clients act as an observer at the in-home interviews adds a valuable contribution to the project both at the post-interview debrief with the anthropologist and at the subsequent ideation exercises at the client that frequently follow on the ethnographic research.

The video summation that substantiates the written findings, conclusions and strategic implications is a critical deliverable in visual ethnographic projects. It acts as documentary evidence of the learning and insights revealed by the ethnography and serves as a powerful means of enlightenment at all levels of management. For it to be most effective, it must be edited skillfully so that it is narrative in style and flows sequentially in a way that is easy to follow for viewers with no direct connection to the project.