Judy Langer will be speaking on "Ethnography from the Client Perspective" at the upcoming 2008 Marketing Research Conference "Refocusing on the Consumer: What are people really thinking?" The conference is sponsored by the AMA and will be held September 14-17 in Boston, MA. Judy will be presenting with Golf Digest Publications.

Description:  Qualitative research has changed dramatically in the last few years, broadening from focus groups to a variety of “non-traditional” methods.  Ethnography in particular has grown as more marketers search for ways to uncover the “truth” about consumer behavior.  A method originally developed in the academic world of cultural anthropology, ethnography is now being used in commercial market research to find out what consumers really do, not what they say they do. 

Clients who have used ethnographic and observational techniques have a special and valuable perspective, we believe. Five years ago we studied client users of focus groups.  Now, we plan to conduct qualitative research among client users of ethnography to find out how and why they have used the technique, what they consider it appropriate, how they view the price/value, how they handle the logistics of client observation, and so on.  Our presentation will report on the findings, and provide insights on how clients and research providers alike can best assess and meet the demand for ethnography and deploy it in ways that effectively enhance the delivery of actionable insights.