Lecture 5: Netnography

What is Netnography

• Netnography is a form of ethnographic research adapted to the unique contingencies of various types

• Inter (Net) + (Eth) nography = Netnography

Characteristics of Netnography

• Naturalistic

• Attentive to context

• adaptable

• immersive

• Purposive in choice of sites

• Insightful and seeking to convey the rich reality of people’s lives with all of their hidden cultural meanings

It makes ethnography

• More cost-effective

• less painstaking

• Less obtrusive

• Less time consuming

• Accessible to various groups

• Allows for retrospective analysis

Face-to-Face Social Interactions vs Online Social Interactions

1. Alteration

   1. Alterations in the nature of interactions caused by specific nature and rules of the technological medium in which it is created

2. Anonymity

   1. Complexities (liberating/constraining). On Facebook, identities are on the social domains. In some online platforms, pseudonyms are used

3. Accessibility

   1. Wide accessibility of many online forums that are open to participation by anyone who cares to register using their email address

4. Archiving

   1. automatic archiving of conversations and data that we see in social media. Communications take place in a digital format that is instantly stored and can be archived indefinitely

Steps in Conducting Netnography

1. Planning

   1. Contextualises understanding of the marketplace: segments, attribute sets

   2. Embedded discoveries of consumer innovation

2. Entree

3. Data Collection

   1. Saturation Point - When gathering any new data produces no further insight

4. Analysis

5. Reporting

Levels of Cloaking

Exercise

• There are recipes that surround meat replacement or the replication of the taste and sensation and meat

• imitation and memasis