Doing “Consumer” Anthropology, Warnings and Advice*
Dr. Erickson is the CEO of PacEth -- a small market and design research firm that uses anthropological methods to help organizations understand consumers and design better products and services for them -- and International Business faculty member at the Darla Moore School of Business, U. South Carolina
Whether its burgers or Boeing, anthropological technique and theory have found significant purchase in the business world. Sometimes. The questions Anthropologists ask often lead to discomfiting revisions in thinking about who buys products and services and what using or experiencing them means. Bringing anthropological stories to the enterprise table can even raise fundamental questions about the nature of business. Fundamental questions (about value, valuation, sustainability, and suffering caused by organizations, for example) need not be laid aside while asking and answering enterprise tactical questions. Using video examples and tales from the field, this webinar offers tips and tricks for finding an anthropological focus that can be heard and, sometimes, become levers to think about and change organizational practices.