Anthropology in the Marketplace

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The Use of Video Diaries in Ethnographic Consumer
Research Journaux Vidéo dEthnographie réalisés
avec des Consommateurs
Patricia L. Sunderland, Ph.D. and Rita M. Denny,
Ph.D.

Presented to Séminaire international sur les
méthodes denquêtes qualitatives appliquées à la
compréhension du consommateur Faculté des
sciences humaines et sociales Sorbonne Paris,
January 2007
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What are Video Diaries?

• An extension of an ethnographic endeavor
• Respondent-created video products
• Before or after another ethnographic encounter
• Stretching the time and place of our knowledge
• Making research a partnership

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What are Video Diaries?
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An Ethnographic Method

• A tradition in ethnographic film (Nanook of the
  North to Jean Rouch)
• Utilized by others in academic and applied
  realms, e.g.,
• Maria Pini with young women in UK, changing modes
  of femininity and issues of social class, etc.
  (www.women.it/cyberarchive/files/pini)
• VIA Video Intervention/Prevention Assessment,
  diaries of asthma, cystic fibrosis, overweight,
  diabetes, etc. Michael Rich, Richard Chalfen et
  al. (www.viaproject.org)

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An Ethnographic Method
Asthma on the way to the hospital www.viaproject
.org
Cystic Fibrosis coughing blood www.viaproject.or
g
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A Contemporary Motif

• A method of power and promise, technology-enabled
• Resonant with contemporary cultural practices
• YouTube
• Video Blogs (vlogs)
• Google video, etc.

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A Contemporary Motif

• Extension of the reality TV (ad, and everyday)
  world

LOréal ad May 05
Parisienne August 05
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Critical Possibilities

• Client concern Are they performing? Is it
  real?
• Yes, performance and yes, its real
• Performance a constitutive part of social life
• Transmits/telegraphs cultural details
• Frame of the performance itself informative
• Infused with content and context of daily life
• Overall, like all data, a text (or sensa) to
  be interpreted, not the truth

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For Example

• Investigating (the performance of) beer in the
  larger life of young men

Long Version
Short Version
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Critical Possibilities

• Retains social worlds and relations
• Friends and family helping out (and hindering)
• Joking, interacting
• People (and products) do not exist in isolation
• Real life events (cant help but) infuse
  diary-making

For instance, Dad et al.
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Critical Possibilities

• Video diaries provide micro-details
• Time and place extension to processes
• Life in cars, cooking, cleaning, working,
  shopping, etc.
• Time and place extension to products
• Existing products What are the pluses, the
  minuses?
• Trying out new products (purchased and placed)

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For Example

• For existing products and process

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Critical Possibilities

• One size does not fit all
• A word on mistakes
• The blockbuster Which movie should I watch?
• Runner up Am I waiting for water to boil or
  Godot?
• But, can be extremely good, when there is
• Something new
• Something to show, inherent action
• Something to say
• About the category or brand
• The brand/product relationship

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For Example

• Pickup trucks inherent action in their use

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For Example

• Reflections on category and brand

Long Version
Short Version
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In the End

• Respondent-created documentary