Ethnography is a progressive marketing research methodology that emulates an anthropological method of study in which naturalistic observation and semi-structured interviewing are combined to see how consumers behave in their natural setting.

The primary problem with conventional focus groups is that respondents tend to give cognitive answers to emotional issues. The main problem is that consumers often buy emotionally and justify rationally. A roundtable discussion tends to trigger rational thoughts because in such a formal setting, people do not like to concede that they are influenced in an irrational manner. Furthermore, certain issues arise during shopping or product use that may not be readily recalled within the sterile confines of a focus group.

Consequently, ethnography places respondents back into their natural habitat for an observational interview in which such nuances of product use and shopping experience may be more promptly acknowledged and documented by either respondent or interviewer. The interaction between interviewer and respondent in an ethnographic study is relatively intimate compared to a traditional focus group.

By establishing a level of trust as an interviewer and observer, the consumer becomes less inhibited about revealing aspects of their lives and consumption experiences. Often the American consumer is a foreign culture to marketers. Consequently, it is no surprise that marketing researchers are now relying on a method of study that resembles that of anthropologists.

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