Qualitative online research on the Internet that started in the 90s never really took off. With the dotcom boom we all did our “experiments” full of enthusiasm but we were aware that it was simply transferring the same techniques to a different channel and continuing with face to face. It was not the time.
Reality has changed. Today, the Internet has become a place rich in interactions, society has changed, consumers (potential interviewees) have internalized the channel as part of their lives. Markets are connected spaces, conversations where customers not only express themselves, but are also transformed.
Research must adapt to this new collaborative and interactive consumer. The only question that remains is: how do we face this new change from a research perspective? How can we introduce virtual reality into our practices?
If we focus on mobile technology (more than 9 million mobile internet users and growing) it is allowing us new ways of collecting information. Research participants can take photos of their wardrobe, their house, their car, etc. with their phone and send them by email to researchers or share them with other participants. They can make videos of the stores they shop at, how they use a product in the kitchen, the places they go out for drinks with their friends, etc.
The relationship is bidirectional, researchers periodically send requests for information, even requesting specific information based on your location.
The emergence of these new qualitative techniques does not mean replacing other existing techniques, it simply opens a new window. It even expands the use of other disciplines such as Netnography, which can be defined as the branch of research that aims to understand the social reality that is occurring on the Internet.
Netnography Netnographers are born from the need to understand sociability on the Internet channel, to gain a better understanding of sociability in cyberspace and therefore to better understand individuals (consumers) and their relationships with products, brands and society. Anthropological research techniques are adapted to the Internet channel, with the main advantage that consumers are followed within their social networks without conditioning them or compromising their privacy. The netnographer not only studies this type of interaction, but also seeks deeper connections.
It also allows us to create ad-hoc online communities in which to explore a multitude of topics, where members share, comment and vote on ideas that allow brands to improve, create, develop, etc. products and services.
We create, for example, communities to understand the use of cooking aids among young households, members interact with each other as if they were in a real kitchen, sharing uses, introducing modifications, and pointing out the feelings associated with the brands.
Also, outside the home we enter into the social world of consumers, we can go out for drinks with them, discover what and how they consume, in what environments, etc.
And even sharing a virtual drink, what more could you ask for?
Ana Fernandez
