virtual ethnography: bridging the gap between market research and social media

thinkintrepid.com

Virtual Ethnography:

Bridging the Gap between

Market Research & Social Media

#sm2ROIseries

Jen Cardew Kersey @JenKersey

John Song @JohnSong

OVERVIEW OF PRESENTATION

© INTREPID, An Alterian Company

2010 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2

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Defining Virtual Ethnography

@ThePeeps: A Case Study

Virtual Ethnography in Market Research

Q & A

STEPS OF SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING

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2010 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

DEFINING VIRTUAL

ETHNOGRAPHY

The Basics

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WHAT IS ETHNOGRAPHY?

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Ethnography is a research methodology rather than just a data collection

technique. It is unique in its:

Approach

• Open mind

• Objectivity

• Adjustments as needed

Data Collection

• See it from their POV

• Experience it

• Use multiple methods

• Spend as much time as needed

• What they DO vs. what they SAY

Analysis

• Theoretical frameworks

• Deep dives

• Brainstorms

• Client involvement

• Going back into the field if needed



Virtual ethnography, like it‟s offline counterpart, ethnography, is a research

methodology rather than a data collection technique

•Ethnography of a virtual space (one website or more)

•Ethnography of a group of people (across many websites)

•Ethnography of a topic (across internet & can include many groups)

Online, you can explore:

•Public vs. Private conversations

•Communities of people

•Influencers and extreme individuals

•Individuals

AND VIRTUAL ETHNOGRAPHY?

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WHAT CAN VIRTUAL ETHNOGRAPHY EXPLORE?

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Conversations

being had by

members of a

community

Public Discussions (in

stores, talk shows, radio shows, etc.)

On the Web

(Combination of public,

private and semi-public)

Semi-public Discussions

(at work, in the restroom, while shopping, etc.)

Private Discussions

(with family, friends,

spouses)

IM Social

Networking

Sites Blogs/

Microblogs

Peer

evaluation

sites

Multimedia

(YouTube,

Podcasts)

Newsgroups

Message

Boards

Chat rooms

Virtual ethnography #sm2ROIseries

© INTREPID, An Alterian Company 2


WHAT MAKES VIRTUAL ETHNOGRAPHY DIFFERENT

• Research questions guide the process

• Iterative process

• Cultural understanding defines keywords

• Contextualizing snippets

• Hand collected & software collected data

• Analyzed by software & researchers

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Versus

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THE APPROACH

Virtual Ethnography in Market

Research

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@THEPEEPS VIRTUAL ETHNOGRAPHY

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Tra

dit

ion

al C

ult

ure

• Seasonal

• “Intended” usage

• Strong feelings of nostalgia or hate

• Conversations

•Colors

•Shapes

•Flavors

•Ways to eat them

Fa

n C

ult

ure

• Not as seasonal

• Inventive & creative usage

• Hobbies & entertainment

• Media (& conversations)

•Dioramas

•Microwave videos

•Photographs all over the world

Four week study that combined Social Media monitoring with virtual ethnography in

order to identify how people were talking about Peeps online, a deeper

understanding of their costumers, and opportunities for the Peeps brand

#sm2ROIseries



DEFINE THE PROBLEM

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articulate a clear and actionable brief that creates a framework for the

insight – the problem can be about a population or a specific topic (for

instance a product) or online space

FIND THE PEOPLE

define the participants that can most effectively shed light on the

questions

PLAN THE APPROACH

agree on an agenda that includes the mode of data collection – this keeps

the team focused during data collection but is flexible enough to allow for

ad hoc opportunities and paths



COLLECT THE DATA

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leverage social media monitoring tools, like SM2, to help you collect and

manage the vast amounts of data available on the social web & hand

collect data as needed

Desk Research

Qualitative Research

Participant

Observation Interaction

• Basic facts & figures

• Lay of the land

• Competitor ecosystems

• Background information

• Lurk to get a feel for the

culture

• Do not disturb the culture by

the presence of a researcher,

a focus group facility, a

discussion guide, etc.

• Interact with questions with

the permission of the group



COLLECT THE DATA: USING SM2

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#sm2ROIseries

Using SM2 to

collect data from

all social media

platforms with the

following search

terms:

"Ann Arbor" AND "Peeps"

"Peeps" AND "forum“

"Peeps" AND "geek*"

“Peeps" AND "community“

"Peeps" AND "gift" AND

"basket"

"Peeps" AND "haiku"

"chicks" AND "Peeps“

“bunnies” AND “Peeps”

"Peeps" AND "holiday*"

AND "marshmallow"

"Just Born" AND "candies"

AND "peeps"

"Peeps" AND "jousting"

"Just Born" AND "candy"

AND "peeps" "Peeps in

Places"

"Peeps" AND

"marshmallow"

"Peeps Show"

"Peeps" AND "microwave"

"Peeps" AND "Serious

Eats"

"Peeps" AND "mockery"

AND "game"

"Peeps" AND "Washington

Post“

"Peeps" AND "Peep off"

"Peeps" AND "product" AND

"bunny" "Peeps" AND

"purse*"

"Peeps" AND "recipe*"

"Peeps" AND "color" AND

"taste“

"Peeps" AND "research"

AND "expand" "Peeps" AND

"cooking*" AND

"marshmallow"

"Peeps" AND "seasonal"

"Peeps" AND "cosmetics"

AND "marshmallow“

"Peeps" AND "song*"

"Peeps" AND "culture*"

AND "marshmallow“

"Peeps" AND "spoof*"

AND "marshmallow"

"Peeps" AND "dance"

"Peeps" AND "stationery"

AND "chick" "Peeps" AND

"dancing"

"Peeps" AND "test*" AND

"marshmallow" "Peeps"

AND "diorama"

"Peeps" AND "toy*" AND

"marshmallow" "Peeps"

AND "Easter“

"Peeps" AND "travel" AND

"chick"

"Peeps" AND "experiment*“

"Peeps" AND "website"

AND "marshmallow"

"Peeps" AND "factory tour”

Total results

found are:

16,414 results

within date

range: 3/22 –

4/6

•Search terms were added

as the researchers learned

more about the cultures

•Social media monitoring

tools make the data

quantifiable



TAKE IT OFFLINE

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validate your findings through more traditional methods like focus groups;

this also gives you the opportunity to compare and contrast what is found

online and offline (which can sometimes be surprising!)

Participant

Observation

Interacting

Large amounts of data

Hypotheses

Theories

Etc, etc.

Test hypotheses and verify theories:

In-depth interviews

Focus groups

Day-in-the-life-of

Etc, etc



ANALYZE AND INTERPRET OPPORTUNITIES

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dive into the insights with workshops. In the end, tell stories with a clear

set of „A-Ha‟s and next steps)

Analysis

Who

What

When

Where

Why

How

Segments of conversations

Topic and word

frequencies

Events Conversation

analysis

Contextualize conversations

Slideshow of artifacts

Analysis of sentiment

Personas Day-in-the-

life-of

List of hot sites

Ecosystem

Time analysis of

conversations



ANLAYSIS THROUGH AN ETHNOGRAPHIC FRAMEWORK

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Fan culture is the culture made up of fans of brands & products. These

fans create art, which takes a variety of forms, from the products that

they love so much. Fan culture represents the love of the product as

well as the comradery amongst the fans.

Fan Culture

Knowledge

Involvement &

Performance

Identity & Belonging

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ANALYZE : TRADITIONAL VS. FAN CULTURES

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Video/photos Microblog Mainstreams Blog Social network Forum Wiki

1203

774

482 347

153 123 26

Fan Culture conversations share of voice

Microblog Blog Mainstreams Forum Social Network Video/Phot Wiki

5088

3115 1627 1581 1362 509 24

Traditional Culture conversations share of voice

The fan culture audiences express themselves online through video &

photos whereas the traditional audience is more likely to have written

conversations online



ANALYZE: THE TRADITIONAL CULTURE

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Traditional Culture Peeps conversations

Are Peeps just for Easter?

Ways to eat Peeps

Peeps favorite colors and

shapes

“Peeps are amazing...

and as bill said, stale ones are very good too!

They're great if you put 'em in the microwave for

like 15 seconds and let them get soft and big,

then eat them!”

<Bobby Gratz> (I Hate Peeps! - Facebook)

“@JenOgden *handing you a pink, chick PEEP*

Enjoy & Happy Easter!!! (I like the purple bunny

Peeps) teehee”

http://twitter.com/DDubsTaraATL/statuses/11

543969430

“My opinion on peeps varies. I used to

loved them - stale - now not so much. But I

love them toasted/roasted. Mmmm!

Perfection. I don't know if I'll be eating any

this time. I haven't eaten candy in about a

month …”

<jenjie>

(“I have to ask--peeps or no peeps the

marshmallow-y things” -

http://www.twopeasinabucket.com )

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http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/

ANALYZE: DEEP DIVING INTO FAN CULTURE ACTIVITIES

© INTREPID 2010 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 19

Peeps in microwave

190 YouTube videos and still counting

The number of views for these videos

are 2,841,589; with 11,213

comments.

Taste

better

9%

Fun

54%

Gross

19%

No

reason

12%

Other

6%

video “Three Peeps In A Basket... In A Microwave Oven” (745 comments)

peeps are gross. they deserve that

(AndrewKalember – YouTube

audience)

oh my gosh that looked so gross but

FUNNY!!! XD though i feel bad for

them now. i microwaved a peep and it

almost exploded the fluff came out

the side..... i'm gonna post it XD XD

as soon as my computer lets me

(MewBerrylvy – YouTube audience)

ANALYZE: FAN CULTURE & MICROWAVES, WHY DO THEY DO IT?

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Microwave Peeps

Inexpensive on clearance

Hobby

Dislike Peeps

Entertaining Easter time

(non religious) ritual

Curiosity

Taste better

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SHARE THE INSIGHT: FAN CULTURE PROFILE

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finally, work hard to make the outputs accessible, engaging, and

meaningful

Shelly S is a female librarian from New York

She has 57 peeps photos which attracted 5945 views in

total. And all of these photos are classified as fan

culture

The concept of her photos are toys/food diorama

ANOTHER MAIN STREAM BRAND WITH A FAN CULTURE

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Traditional Culture

http://members.socket.net/~llile/ConcreteStain/Concrete_

Stain.html

Duck Tape duct tape is a great

example of a company

embracing the naturally

occurring fan culture and

making a profitable product

that appeals to the fan culture

population without disrupting

the traditional consumers.

Sales go through different

channels

http://yuni-

promdresses.blogspot.com/201

0/03/duct-tape-prom.html

Fan Culture

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SHARE THE INSIGHT: RECOMMENDING NEXT STEPS

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Seasonal

What are they doing? Who are these people? How can we reach

them?

How can the fan culture of Peeps be

leveraged by the brand?

Year-Round Projects Why do they

like Peeps?

What draws

them to the

culture?

What do they

need from us?

Online Social

Media

In-store

Products Events

Merchandise that Just Born can create around the Peeps brands that will serve

the Fan Culture while not disrupting the Traditional Culture

#sm2ROIseries



ADDITIONAL VIRTUAL ETHNOGRAPHY USAGE

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Market Analysis

•How people are learning languages online

• If a traditional offline publisher has an opportunity in online products

Messaging

•Listening to consumer conversations (positive & negative) about the product

•Testing messages with offline focus groups

True brand sentiment

•How people talk about the brand when no one is asking them

• Influencers, communities, individuals

•Contextualizing this with offline conversation



WWW.THINKINTREPID.COM

Intrepid, An ALTERIAN Company

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ABOUT THE PRESENTERS

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John Song was founder and CEO of Intrepid

Consultants , which was recently acquired by Alterian

. At Intrepid, he worked to provide actionable insights

from social media data. Before his days at Intrepid,

John founded a web analytics consultancy that was

later sold to the digital agency Ascentium . Prior to

that, he was a minority co-founder and managing

director (EMEA) for Noetix , a business intelligence

software company. http://meetjohnsong.com/



Jen Cardew Kersey has had an interest in virtual

ethnography since finishing up her MS degree in

applied anthropology at the University of North Texas.

She has since discovered an unrealized love for

market research. Jen has been involved in various

virtual ethnography projects and has presented her

findings to a variety of audiences.

thinkintrepid.com

How can you use virtual ethnography to

gain insight for your marketing needs?

#sm2ROIseries

Jen Cardew Kersey @JenKersey

John Song @JohnSong

VIRTUAL ETHNOGRAPHY FAQs

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• Determine which methodologies will be best suited to inform and answer which research questions – virtual ethnography is well suited to at least inform most research questions

Research questions

• Intrepid‟s research team is able to apply their expert knowledge of the internet and culture to help navigate the abundance of info online

Determine where to go

• Intrepid knows what types of conversations need to be captured, where we should participate and what should be represented in the sample

Participate and observe

• It takes skill and experience to wade through abundant amounts of information and not become biased. It‟s significant if it might answer a research question

Determine what‟s relevant & significant

• Intrepid organizes a representative sample of artifacts (multimedia) in an online catalog to aid analysis and to be used as an on-going living archive

Collect & organize artifacts

• Just like any other qualitative method, a trained researcher will know when they have enough data- new themes will stop emerging and the researcher intuition kicks in

Knowing what‟s enough

© INTREPID, An Alterian Company 2010 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

virtual ethnography: bridging the gap between market research and social media

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