Case Analysis

Good One

Remember that you must do nothing to endanger your informants. This means that you should not use specific identifying information. Make yourself fit into the setting as mush as possible. Remember that, although no research can ever be free of bias, we want the impact of your presence on your informants to be minimal.

Select a period of the day when there is likely to be a lot human interaction. Observe this setting for at least 60 minutes (per person per group), focusing on what you can see. Observation is meant to result in "thick description", meaning that the amount of detail you put in your descriptions is important. If possible, make notes on these observations while you are observing, in an unobtrusive (without being noticed) way. If you must leave to write down what you have observed, do so, and then return.

Assignment Overview :

There is no better way to get closer to your consumers/ customers than by observing them. Companies like Colgate & Levers have now institutionalized the practice of participant observation : these firms have created a lot of new products as a result.

Consider yourself as a team of Consultants assigned by a company to get deeper insights about their current/potential customers. As part of this assignment, you will observe consumers in their natural environment: they may be shopping, consuming or disposing of products. The purpose is to pick the skill of observing consumers in action, analyzing observed data and reporting with your interpretation.

Description of the project :

This project focuses on observing an environment where you are likely to observe interesting consumer behavior. You are expected to observe/ track shoppers in a large supermarket (i.e. large in terms of the number of shoppers). You are free to choose any supermarket that is convenient