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Consumer research is all about understanding “how consumers engage with the material world(s) they are living in” and “what meanings brands, products and possessions have for them”. Hence, in your group project, you have to conduct a mini-ethnographic study into consumer behaviour associated and/or related to the specific consumption phenomenon that you have selected from the options listed on Blackboard on October 13th.
Even though consumer behaviour includes the acquisition, usage and disposal of products, the emphasis of your research project should focus on the meaning that your selected consumption phenomenon has for individual consumers in their everyday lives (see handout Maclaran, Hogg & Bradshaw 2011). Issues that you could thereby explore may include for example:
• In what personal, situational, social or cultural context do people engage in the chosen consumption phenomenon in their everyday lives?
• What functional and/or hedonic (aesthetic) value does the selected consumption phenomenon have for the individual consumer? What functional and/or hedonic value do the actual consumption practices within the consumption phenomenon have for the individual consumer?
• What role(s) does the selected consumption phenomenon play in consumers’ everyday lives?
• How is the consumption phenomenon related or linked to the individual consumer’s self-concept and self-identity construction?
• What meaning(s) does the lived experience of the selected consumption phenomenon have for the individual consumer?
• Do consumers engage in a subculture of consumption or in a consumer tribe related to the selected consumption phenomenon (i.e. fan-clubs, brand communities, etc.)? If yes, what motivates consumers to participate in them? How, and to what extent, do these consumers share meanings, values, beliefs and brand myths with each other and/or engage in (symbolic) communal consumption rituals?
In order to research consumers’ everyday lived experiences of consuming your selected brand, product or product category, you are now required:
a) To review briefly, but critically the relevant academic literature on the consumption of your selected brand, product or product category. You must review and reference at least 10 sources. At least 70% of your reviewed references must be academic peer-reviewed publications (journals, books, conference proceedings). Please note that Wikipedia, blogs, websites, social media, etc. do not count as references!
b) To study ‘in the field’ how consumers actually consume the selected brand, product or product category in their everyday lives by means of participant observation. You have to collect qualitative data in the form of taking field notes, which you can also complement with photos or even video films for better understanding if you like.
c) To conduct phenomenological interviews with 4 consumers to explore what meaning the consumption of the selected brand, product or product category has for them in their everyday lives. Each student must thereby interview 2 consumers and generate transcripts of the interviews for data analysis & interpretation.
d) To observe your own personal consumption experiences and practices with the chosen brand, product or product category – either in form of an autoethnography (if you are already member of an observed consumption subculture/consumer tribe prior to your project) or as an observation of participation – and record your thoughts, feelings and experiences as field notes.
e) To analyse and interpret the qualitative data you have generated through interviews and participant observation (incl. self-observation) to provide insights into the consumer behaviour phenomenon you have studied. In particular, you should outline and discuss how your findings relate to consumer behaviour models & theories and the relevant literature you have reviewed.
f) To keep a reflective diary of your learning process during the research project. In it, you should record your personal experiences with the various aspects of your research project itself (i.e. how you cope with uncertainty and anxieties, how you solve a problem you have to face up to, how you manage your teamwork, what skills you develop or discover in you, etc.).
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