Humble egg has place in science, myth, art, religion
They turn up in baskets every Easter, mysteriously delivered to children by that hip-hop artist with the long ears and fluffy tail. But there's much more to the humble egg than its kitschy association with Peter Cottontail. The egg symbolizes unity for the Hmong, an ethnic hill tribe that migrated from China into Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and later the United States. "The egg is a real sense of unity for people," says Tracy Johnson, a social and cultural anthropologist who studied the Hmong in northern Thailand. "In the marriage ceremony, they will cut the hard-boiled egg in half and give the groom half and give the bride half. That's another way the two beings are joined, by partaking of the halves of this egg." Now the research director for Context-Based Research Group in Baltimore, Johnson says the Hmong communities in America incorporate a cracked hard-boiled egg in their New Year's ritual.
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Dear Prudence
We don’t often think of the Beatles as financial prophets—their "Tax Man" notwithstanding. In their 1968 song, "Dear Prudence," the Beatles invited the star of that song to greet the new day, and indeed, prudence has come out to play. But it has arrived in a form that marketers may not have anticipated. Dr. Robbie Blinkoff, a consumer anthropologist and founder of Context-Based Research Group, which has worked with clients such as American Express, Nike and Procter & Gamble, believes the new prudence is the beginning of a cultural transformation: "We’re going from the world being defined by us as consumers to the world being defined by us as humans—and being a consumer is just part of that."
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AP’s ethnographic studies look for solutions to news and ad “fatigue”
A new study by the Associated Press has come to the conclusion that consumers are “tired, even annoyed, by the current experience of advertising,” and that, as a result, they don’t trust very much of it. But at the same time, AP found, consumers do want information relevant to their needs, as well as ways to socialize that information. The findings are part of a study called “A new model for communication,” released two weeks ago with little fanfare and no press coverage, even by AP’s own reporters. The research was done in conjunction with Context-Based Research Group of Baltimore, and was a followup to a 2008 study called “A new model for news”. Both studies used ethnographic research techniques to do a “deep dive” into consumer behavior and motivations.
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Rethinking retail in the age of the grounded consumer
Many business owners, especially those in the retail sector, were happy to bid farewell to 2009 -- a year defined by high unemployment rates, decreased consumer spending and myriad financial uncertainties. My company, Context-Based Research Group, a consumer anthropology firm with cultural anthropologists around the world who observe human behavior to uncover the reasons behind why people do what they do, conducted two studies during the Great Recession to uncover insights into the changes in consumer behavior.
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Will Free-Spending Stage a Comeback?
Folks spend more time together -- instead of going out and spending money. It's a question that has preoccupied marketers ever since the economy went haywire: Will people revert to their free-spending ways once the economy recovers, or has their behavior been permanently transformed? A report released late last month by Context-Based Research Group and ad agency Carton Donofrio Partners makes the case that the downturn has indeed wrought a lasting shift in consumers' thinking and not just a transitory change in their bank balances.
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Focus on the Family got Super Bowl buzz it wanted
Suddenly, the focus is off the family — and on the data. "People are searching for real meaning in their lives after the recession," says Robbie Blinkoff, a consumer anthropologist. "Focus on the Family hoped its ad would stand out as a values ad. Instead, it got lost in the shuffle."
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The American Dream is Dead–Long Live the American Dream
The American Dream is dead– and it ain’t a bad thing. In a recent survey by Context-Based Research Group, a Baltimore consumer anthropology firm, 78 percent of respondents said they believed the AD was kaput. But they also agreed that it should be, because the dream has become defined by what you can buy, rather than by freedom and ideals. “In our studies, we found people reaching this epiphany and then going through a ‘coming of age’ process that’s leading to new attitudes and new ways of interacting with the world,” said CBRG founder Robbie Blinkoff.
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Will You Be My Frugal Valentine?
Valentine’s Day is always among the most commercialized holidays on the marketing calendar, offering retailers and advertisers a chance to extract money from those consumers who have managed to refill bank accounts after depleting them for Christmas shopping. The National Retail Federation estimates that Americans spent $14.7 billion last year on Valentine’s Day purchases. This year, however, is the third Valentine’s Day since the recession and financial crisis turned most Americans into savers rather than spenders. In a study released on Wednesday by the Context-Based Research Group and Carton Donofrio Partners, both based in Baltimore, 88 percent of respondents said they had taken steps to spend less and 83 percent said they had made permanent changes in spending and saving behavior. “We believe the changes in behavior represent a permanent shift,” said Cleve Corlett, director for quantitative research at Context-Based Research, “because they come from a deep evaluation of personal beliefs.”
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Marked by the recession: Downturn colors generations in different ways
In the decade to come, this recession could be seen as “much bigger than a financial crisis,” said cultural anthropologist Robbie Blinkoff. “All this is actually leading to a cultural transformation. Something’s definitely permanent about it.”
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An era of anxiety
We began the first decade of the 21st century confused about what to call it. The Two-Thousands? The Aughts? “Look at the two major events that were bookends to the decade, 9/11 and the recession,” said Robbie Blinkoff, a consumer anthropologist in Baltimore. “After the first one, we were told to go shopping. Now, at the end of the decade, we know we can’t buy our way out of it.
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The Ethnography of Marketing
A software tool allows researchers to study human behaviors and plot them along dimensions that reveal product and service needs. The new core competency is ethnography. Companies use it to gain insights into the culture and behavior of their customers.
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Corporate Ethnography
High-tech companies are deploying ethnographers and anthropologists by the score to study how people actually use technology.
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Anthropologists Go Native in the Corporate Village
Anthropologists Go Native in the Corporate Village, according to a recent article in Fast Company...
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Off with the pith helmets
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The Consumer Anthropologist
The problem with focus groups? They take consumers out of their natural habitat. So welcome the idea of ethnographic market research, which uses the anthropologist's tool kit of methods and theories.
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Corporate anthropology: Dirt-free research
The influx of corporate anthropology has grown in recent years as companies have tried to get more tactical about consumer research, evaluating increasingly technological products before their release.
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Consumer Input, Scientific Analysis Provide Foundation for MSN 8 Research and Innovation
MSN 8 represents the first intensive use of anthropological study to enhance the MSN client and bring the customer's voice into the product development cycle.
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How to Get Really Close to Teens' Lives: MTV's "Ethnography Study"
MTV has long emphasized market research to learn about its teen audience. But in the late 1990s it noticed its ratings were starting to slide. So MTV embarked on a new teen research campaign, the hallmark of which was its "ethnography study."
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THE HUMAN TOUCH
Companies that truly want to understand their customers are hiring social scientists -- such as anthropologists -- to bring their insights to the enterprise. Says Intel's Shane Wall, "When you compare it to the traditional marketing effort, there's no comparison."
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THE HUMAN EQUATION
As participants at an Intel conference on Human Centered Product Innovation learned, companies that really want to figure out what people want are turning to antropologists and social scientists for help.
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Social engagement networks could enhance advertising effectiveness, study shows
Many news consumers feel bombarded by advertising but are more receptive to it if is presented in a trusted, interactive environment, a new study for The Associated Press concludes.
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NEW HOLIDAY SHOPPING STUDY CONCLUDES SALES MAY BE DOWN, BUT JOY WILL BE UP THIS SEASON
Quantitative Study by Context-Based Research Group and Carton Donofrio Partners Finds 43 Percent Believe the Recession Has Had a Positive Impact on Their Lives
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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS UNVEILS FINDINGS OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH AT WORLD EDITORS FORUM
Global Study by Context-Based Research Group Finds Younger Consumers Struggle with News Fatigue but Yearn for In-Depth Stories. The Associated Press and Context-Based Research Group unveiled key findings from their global anthropological study at the annual World Editors Forum in Sweden. The study examines news consumption patterns of young adults between the ages of 18 and 34 in Britain, the United States and India.
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ROBBIE BLINKOFF OF CONTEXT-BASED RESEARCH NAMED TO FAST COMPANY MAGAZINE’S FAST 50 CHAMPIONS OF INNOVATION
Robbie Blinkoff, PhD, Principal Anthropologist of Context-Based Research Group, whose efforts have helped make Ethnography, or cultural anthropology, the fastest-growing segment of marketing research, has been named to Fast Company magazine’s 2003 list of the “Fast 50” Champions of Innovation – individuals whose achievements have helped change business or society.
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THE (R)EVOLUTION IS NOW: ‘THE MOBILES’ DEFINES AN EMERGING WIRELESS LIFESTYLE
A growing and vibrant international subculture has seamlessly integrated wireless products into their daily existence: The Mobiles. Context-Based Research Group's latest global study reveals a shift in human consciousness as wireless integration alters behavior, attitudes and etiquette around the world - as well as how business should adapt to this evolution.
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ROBBIE BLINKOFF NAMED ONE OF BALTIMORE BUSINESS JOURNAL’S 40 UNDER 40
The Baltimore Business Journal recently named their top 40 under 40 business people. Context Principal Anthropologist, Robbie Blinkoff was among them.
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CONTEXT-BASED RESEARCH GROUP HIRED BY WORKPLACE INNOVATOR HERMAN-MILLER
Herman Miller, Inc., the leading global designer and manufacturer of office furnishings recently selected Context-Based Research Group for an extensive ethnographic project.
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GLOBAL ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF WIRELESS USE REVEALS KEY LESSONS FOR COMPANIES MAKING WIRELESS PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Context's Wireless Opportunities study provides a new perspective on what consumers really want from wireless and what companies need to do if they want to close the gap between expectation and user experience that is keeping wireless from reaching its potential.
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ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF THE OLYMPICS UNCOVERS REASONS WHY AMERICANS HAVE OUTGROWN INNOCENCE OF THE GAMES
A Context study has found that the reasons Americans used to love the Olympic Games are actually alive and well in other parts of the world. The research, conducted through Context's network of 1,700 anthropologists around the world, also uncovered some of the reasons – beyond the tape-delayed coverage – why Americans aren’t connecting with the Games like they have in the past.
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CULTURAL OLYMPIC INSIGHTS FROM ANTHROPOLOGISTS AROUND THE WORLD PORTRAY WHAT THE OLYMPICS MEAN TO PEOPLE ALL OVER THE GLOBE
Using the powers of observation and cultural description that are the hallmarks of anthropological insight, Context’s network of 1,700 anthropologists around the world were asked to observe people and the media in their communities and provide global cultural analysis of the Summer Olympics.
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