Netnografia" ou etnografia sobre a Internet, é uma metodologia de pesquisa qualitativa.
that adapts ethnographic research techniques to the study of cultures and communities emerging que se adapta as técnicas de pesquisa etnográfica para o estudo das culturas e comunidades emergentes
through computer-mediated communications. através de comunicação mediadas por computador. As a marketing research technique, “netnography” Como uma técnica de pesquisa de marketing, "netnografia"
uses the information publicly available in online forums to identify and understand the needs and utiliza as informações publicamente disponíveis em fóruns on-line para identificar e compreender as necessidades e
decision influences of relevant online consumer groups. influencia a decisão dos respectivos grupos de consumidores online. Compared to traditional and market- Comparado ao tradicional e do mercado
oriented ethnography, “netnography” is far less-time consuming and elaborate. etnografia orientada, "netnografia" é muito menos demorado e elaborado. Another contrast Outro contraste
with traditional and market-oriented ethnography is that “netnography” is capable of being com e orientada para o mercado etnografia tradicional é que "netnografia" é capaz de ser
conducted in a manner that is entirely unobtrusive (although it optionally need not be). conduzida de forma que é totalmente discreto (embora não precisa ser opcionalmente). Compared to Em comparação com
focus groups and personal interviews, “netnography” is far less obtrusive, conducted using grupos focais e entrevistas pessoais, "netnografia" é muito menos intrusivos, realizados utilizando
observations of consumers in a context that is not fabricated by the marketing researcher. observações dos consumidores num contexto que não é fabricado pelo pesquisador de marketing. It also can Ele também pode
provide information in a manner that is less costly and more timely than focus groups and personal fornecer informações de uma maneira que é menos oneroso e mais rápido que os grupos focais e pessoal
interviews. entrevistas. “Netnography” provides marketing researchers with a window into naturally occurring "Netnografia" fornece aos pesquisadores de marketing com uma janela em que ocorrem naturalmente
behaviors, such as searches for information by, and communal word-of-mouth discussions between, comportamentos, tais como buscas de informações por e boca-a-boca discussões comuns entre,
consumers. os consumidores. Because it is both naturalistic and unobtrusive —an unprecedentedly unique Porque ele é naturalista e discreto, um único sem precedentes
combination not found in any other marketing research method— “netnography” allows continuing combinação não encontrada em nenhuma outra pesquisa de marketing netnografia "método" permite continuar
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access to informants in a particular online social situation. acesso aos informantes em uma situação particular sociais online. This access may provide important Este acesso pode fornecer importantes
opportunities for consumer-researcher and consumer-marketer relationships. oportunidades para pesquisador-consumidor e comerciante-relações de consumo. The limitations of As limitações do
“netnography” draw from its more narrow focus on online communities, the need for researcher "Netnografia" tirar suas estreitas se concentrar mais em comunidades online, a necessidade de pesquisador
interpretive skill, and the lack of informant identifiers present in the online context that leads to habilidade de interpretação, bem como a falta de identificadores informante presentes no contexto on-line que leva a
difficulty generalizing results to groups outside the online community sample. dificuldade em generalizar os resultados para grupos de fora da amostra na comunidade online. Marketing Marketing
researchers wishing to generalize the findings of a “netnography” of a particular online group to pesquisadores que desejam generalizar os resultados de um "netnografia" de um grupo on-line especial para
other groups must therefore apply careful evaluations of similarity and employ multiple methods for outros grupos, deve aplicar-se avaliações mais criteriosas de similaridade e de empregar vários métodos para
triangulation. triangulação.
In this article's first section the method of “netnography” is explained, with particular Em sua primeira seção deste artigo o método de "netnografia" é explicado, com particular
attention paid to its relative strengths and weaknesses vis-à-vis in-person qualitative techniques. atenção aos seus pontos fortes e fracos vis-à-vis na pessoa de técnicas qualitativas. The A
second section provides an illustrative example that uses the information on a popular coffee segunda seção fornece um exemplo ilustrativo que usa a informação em um café popular
newsgroup to gather consumer insights that may inform marketing practice. newsgroup para coletar insights sobre os consumidores que podem informar a prática de marketing.
THE METHOD OF NETNOGRAPHY O MÉTODO DE netnografia
Ethnography and Netnography Etnografia e netnografia
Ethnography is an anthropological method that has gained popularity in sociology, cultural Etnografia é um método antropológico, que ganhou popularidade na sociologia, cultural
studies, consumer research and a variety of other social scientific fields. estudos, pesquisas de consumo e uma variedade de outros campos científicos social. The term refers both to O termo se refere tanto ao
fieldwork, or the study of the distinctive meanings, practices and artifacts of particular social trabalho de campo, ou o estudo dos distintos significados, práticas e artefatos de social particular
groups, and to the representations based on such a study. grupos e às representações com base em tal estudo. Ethnography is an inherently open-ended Etnografia é uma inerentemente aberto
practice. prática. It is based upon participation and observation in particular cultural arenas as well as Ele se baseia na participação e observação em particular arenas culturais, bem como
acknowledgment and employment of researcher reflexivity. reconhecimento e emprego de reflexividade pesquisador. That is, it relies heavily on “the acuity Ou seja, ele depende muito "a acuidade
of the researcher-as-instrument” (Sherry 1991, p. 572) and is more visibly affected by researcher do pesquisador como instrumento "(Sherry, 1991, p. 572) e é mais visivelmente afetados pela pesquisadora
interests and skills that most other types of research. interesses e habilidades que a maioria dos outros tipos de pesquisa. Ethnography also uses metaphorical, Etnografia também usa metafórico,
hermeneutic and analytic interpretation of data (see, eg, Arnould and Wallendorf 1994, Spiggle interpretação hermenêutica e analítica dos dados (ver, por exemplo, Arnould e Wallendorf 1994, Spiggle
1994, Thompson 1997). 1994, Thompson 1997). Ethnography is grounded in knowledge of the local, the particularistic, and Etnografia é fundamentada no conhecimento do local, o particularistas e
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the specific. o específico. While it is often used to generalize, it is most often used to gain a type of particularized Embora seja muitas vezes utilizado para generalizar, é o mais frequentemente utilizado para obter um tipo de particularizado
understanding that has come to be termed “grounded knowledge” (Glaser and Strauss 1967). entendimento que veio a ser denominado "conhecimento fundamentado" (Glaser e Strauss, 1967). The A
rich qualitative content of ethnography's findings as well as the open-endedness that makes it qualitativa de conteúdo rico de descobertas de uma etnografia, bem como o caráter aberto que torna
adaptable to a variety of circumstances has led to its popularity as a method. adaptável a uma variedade de circunstâncias levou a sua popularidade como um método. This flexibility has Essa flexibilidade tem
allowed ethnography to be used for over a century to represent and understand the behaviors of etnografia permitido ser usado por mais de um século para representar e compreender os comportamentos de
people belonging to almost every race, nationality, religion, culture and age group—and even those pessoas de quase todas as raças, nacionalidade, religião, cultura e faixa etária e mesmo aqueles
of some non-human species groupings. de algumas espécies de agrupamentos humanos não. Even with this impressive body of ethnographic work Mesmo com esta impressionante conjunto de trabalhos etnográficos
behind it, however, it can be said that no two ethnographies have ever been conducted in exactly the atrás dele, no entanto, pode-se dizer que não há duas etnografias já foram realizados exatamente no
same manner. mesma maneira. This flexibility is one of ethnography's greatest strengths. Essa flexibilidade é uma das maiores forças da etnografia. Ethnographic methods Os métodos etnográficos
have been continually refashioned to suit particular fields of scholarship, research questions, têm sido continuamente remodelada para atender campos específicos de estudo, questões de pesquisa,
research sites, times, researcher preferences and cultural groups. sítios de pesquisa, preferências pesquisador e grupos culturais.
While it is inherently an open-ended form of inquiry, ethnographers choose from related Embora seja inerentemente um findos forma aberta de inquérito, etnógrafos escolher relacionados
field procedures and often confront similar methodological issues. procedimentos de campo e muitas vezes enfrentar semelhantes questões metodológicas. Common ethnographic Comum etnográfica
procedures that help shape researchers' participant-observation include: (1) making cultural entrée, procedimentos que ajudam a 'forma de observação participante investigadores incluem: (1) entrée cultural fazendo,
(2) gathering and analyzing data, (3) ensuring trustworthy interpretation, (5) conducting ethical (2) e análise de coleta de dados, (3) assegurar a interpretação de confiança, (5) realização de ética
research, and (6) providing opportunities for culture member feedback. investigação, e (6) proporcionar oportunidades para feedback membro cultura. Thorough accounts of these contas completa destes
procedures exist for ethnographies conducted in face-to-face situations (see, eg, Fetterman 1989; existência de processos de etnografias-a-face face situações (ver, por exemplo, Fetterman 1989;
Hammersley and Atkinson 1995; Jorgensen 1989; Lincoln and Guba 1985). Hammersley e Atkinson, 1995; 1989 Jorgensen, Lincoln e Guba, 1985). However, networked No entanto, em rede
computing is a novel medium for social exchange between consumers that changes the particulars informática é um meio novo para o intercâmbio social entre os consumidores que muda o seu
of each of these research procedures, concomitantly allowing an unprecedentedly new level of de cada um desses procedimentos de pesquisa, permitindo simultaneamente um novo nível sem precedentes de
access to the heretofore unobservable behaviors of interacting consumers. acesso aos comportamentos observáveis até agora dos consumidores interagindo. It is important, therefore, É importante, portanto,
to provide a general description of the steps and procedures involved in conducting “netnography” para fornecer uma descrição geral das etapas e os procedimentos envolvidos na realização de "netnografia"
was they are adapted to these unique online contingencies. Foram eles estão adaptados a estas contingências em linha única. While “netnography,” like ethnography, Enquanto "netnografia", como a etnografia,
is inherently flexible and adaptable to the interests and skill-set of the individual marketing é inerentemente flexíveis e adaptáveis aos interesses e habilidades conjunto do marketing individual
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researcher, these steps may act as a guide to researchers interested in rigorously applying the pesquisador, essas etapas podem agir como um guia para os pesquisadores interessados na aplicação rigorosa das
method to their own research. método para a sua própria investigação. This combination of more rigorous online guidelines combined with Esta combinação de diretrizes mais rigorosas online combinado com
an innate flexibility is novel, yet still faithful to scholarly depictions of traditional ethnographic uma flexibilidade inata é novo, mas ainda fiéis às descrições dos acadêmicos etnográfica tradicional
methodology (eg, Fetterman 1989; Glaser and Strauss 1967; Hammersley and Atkinson 1995; metodologia (por exemplo, Fetterman 1989, Glaser e Strauss, 1967; Hammersley e Atkinson, 1995;
Jorgensen 1989; Lincoln and Guba). Jorgensen, 1989; Lincoln e Guba). After discussing these “netnographic” procedures, we will Depois de discutir estas "netnográfico" procedimentos, iremos
proceed to illustrate the richness of the technique with a short example of marketing research proceder para ilustrar a riqueza da técnica, com um pequeno exemplo da pesquisa de marketing
conducted on an online group devoted to the discussion of coffee. realizado em um grupo online dedicado à discussão de café.
Entrée. Entrée. There are two initial steps that market researchers will find useful as preparation for Há duas etapas iniciais de que pesquisadores de mercado encontra-se útil como preparação para
conducting a “netnography.” First, researchers must have specific marketing research questions and realização de uma "netnografia." Primeiro, os pesquisadores devem ter pesquisa de marketing e questões específicas
then identify particular online forums appropriate to the types of questions that are of interest to em seguida, identificar particular fóruns adequados aos tipos de questões que são de interesse para
them. elas. Secondly, they must learn as much as possible about the forums, the groups, and the Em segundo lugar, eles devem aprender o máximo possível sobre os fóruns, os grupos e as
individual participants they seek to understand. participantes individuais que buscam compreender. Distinct from traditional ethnographies, in the Diferente de etnografias tradicionais, no
identification of relevant communities online search engines will prove invaluable. identificação das comunidades relevantes motores de busca online irá provar inestimável.
Structurally, at least five different types of online community can be distinguished that may Estruturalmente, pelo menos cinco tipos diferentes de comunidade on-line pode ser distinguida que podem
be useful to the conduct of market-oriented “netnography” (see Kozinets 1999 for more detail). ser útil para a realização de orientada para o mercado "netnografia" (ver Kozinets 1999 para mais detalhes). First Primeira
are boards, which function as electronic bulletin boards (also called newsgroups, usegroups, or São placas, que funcionam como placas de boletim eletrônico (também chamado de "newsgroups", usegroups, ou
usenet groups). usenet grupos). These are often organized around particular products, services or lifestyles, each of Estes são muitas vezes organizadas em torno de determinados produtos, serviços ou estilos de vida, cada um dos
which may have important uses and implications for marketing researchers interested in particular que pode ter usos importantes e as implicações para os pesquisadores interessados no mercado, em especial
consumer topics (eg, McDonalds, Sony Playstation, beer, travel to Europe, skiing). tópicos do consumidor (por exemplo, McDonalds, Sony Playstation, cerveja, viajar para a Europa, esqui). Many Muitos
consumer-oriented newsgroups have over 100,000 readers, and some have over one million (Reid Orientada newsgroups consumidor tem mais de 100.000 leitores, e alguns têm mais de um milhão (Reid
1995). , 1995). Currently, google.com has an excellent newsgroup search engine (acquired from deja.com). Atualmente, google.com tem um excelente motor de busca de notícias (adquiridos a partir deja.com).
Second are independent web-pages as well as web-rings composed of thematically-linked Em segundo lugar são independentes, páginas Web, assim como web-rings composto de temas ligados
World Wide Web pages. World Wide Web pages. Web-pages such as epinions (www.epinions.com) provide online Páginas web, como o Epinions (www.epinions.com) fornecer on-line
community resources for consumer-to-consumer exchanges. recursos da comunidade para-a-troca dos consumidores consumidor. Yahoo!'s consumer advocacy listings 'S Yahoo! anúncios defesa do consumidor
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also provide useful listing of independent consumer web-pages. também fornecer lista útil de consumidores independentes páginas web. Yahoo! also has an excellent Yahoo! também tem um excelente
directory of web-rings (www.dir.webring.yahoo.com). diretório de web-rings (www.dir.webring.yahoo.com). Third are lists (also called listservs, after the Em terceiro lugar estão as listas (também chamados de listas de discussão, após a
software program), which are e-mail mailing lists united by common themes (eg, art, diet, music, programa de software), que são mail-mails e listas unidas por temas comuns (por exemplo, arte, alimentação, música,
professions, toys, educational services, hobbies). profissões, brinquedos, serviços educacionais, hobbies). Some good search engines of lists are egroups.com Alguns motores de busca são bons de listas egroups.com
and liszt.com. e liszt.com.
Finally, multi-user dungeons and chat rooms tend to be considerably less market-oriented in Finalmente, multi-user dungeons e salas de chat tendem a ser consideravelmente menos orientadas para o mercado em
their focus, containing information that is often fantasy-oriented, social, sexual and relational in seu foco, contendo informações que muitas vezes é fantasia orientada, social, sexual e relacional
nature. a natureza. General search engines (eg, Yahoo! or excite) provide good directories of these motores de busca gerais (, Yahoo, por exemplo, ou excitar) fornecer diretórios boa parte desses
communities. comunidades. Dungeons and chat rooms may still be of interest to marketing researchers (see, eg, Dungeons e salas de chat ainda podem ser de interesse para pesquisadores de marketing (ver, por exemplo,
White 1999) because of their ability to provide insight into particular themes (eg, certain industry, White 1999) devido à sua capacidade de fornecer informações sobre temas específicos (alguns, a indústria, por exemplo,
demographic or lifestyle segments). demográficas ou estilo de vida segmentos). However, many marketing researchers will find the generally No entanto, muitos pesquisadores de marketing encontra-se o geral
more focused and more information-laden content provided by the members of boards, rings and mais focada e mais carregados de conteúdo da informação fornecida pelos membros dos conselhos, anéis e
lists to be more useful to their investigation than the more social information present in dungeons listas para ser mais útil para a investigação do que a informação social presente nas masmorras mais
and chat rooms. e salas de chat. In general, combining search engines (eg, a WWW search engine such as Yahoo! Em geral, combinando motores de busca (por exemplo, um motor de busca como Yahoo WWW
with a newsgroup search engine such as groups.google.com) will often provide the bests results for com um motor de busca de notícias, como groups.google.com), muitas vezes, fornecer os resultados recordes para
locating specific topics of interest. localização de temas específicos de interesse. It is also important to note that a broad and thorough Também é importante notar que uma ampla e completa
computerized search may be required, as the topic of interest may be categorized at varying levels busca computadorizada podem ser necessárias, como o tópico de interesse podem ser classificados em diversos níveis
of abstraction, for example, at the brand, product category, or activity type level. de abstração, por exemplo, a marca, produto, categoria ou nível do tipo de atividade.
Once suitable online communities have been identified, the researcher can judge among Uma vez adequado comunidades online foram identificadas, o pesquisador pode julgar entre
them using criteria specifically suitable to the investigation. los usando critérios especificamente adequado para a investigação. Generally, online communities should Geralmente, as comunidades on-line deve
be preferred that have either (1) a more focused and research question relevant segment, topic or é preferível que se quer (1) uma pesquisa focada e relevante do segmento, a pergunta tópico mais ou
group, (2) higher “traffic” of postings, (3) larger numbers of discrete message posters, (4) more grupo, (2) superior "tráfego" de postagens, (3) maior número de cartazes mensagem discreto, (4) mais
detailed or descriptively rich data, and (5) more between-member interactions of the type required ou descritivamente rica de dados detalhados, e (5) membros, mais interações entre os do tipo necessário
by the research question. pela pergunta da pesquisa. These evaluations entail an important adaptation of ethnography to the Estas avaliações implicam uma importante adaptação da etnografia à
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online context, and their use distinguishes the method of “netnography” from traditional contexto on-line, e seu uso distingue o método da "netnografia" das tradicionais
ethnography. etnografia. All of the online forums (groups, rings, lists, dungeons and rooms) may provide useful Todos os fóruns on-line (grupos, anéis, listas, masmorras e salas) podem fornecer informações úteis
access to people self-segmented by a certain type of lifestyle or market-orientation, which acesso às pessoas auto-segmentadas por um determinado tipo de estilo de vida ou, orientação para o mercado, que
researchers may, at their option, translate into private ('one-on-one') online, real-time interviews pesquisadores podem, a seu critério, traduzir-se em privado ("one-on-one"), em tempo real de entrevistas on-line
(see, eg, Hamman 1996). (Ver, por exemplo, Hamman, 1996). Before initiating contact or data collection, the characteristics (group Antes de iniciar ou de recolha de dados de contato, as características (grupo
membership, market-oriented behaviors, interests, and language) of the online communities should sociedade, orientada para os comportamentos de mercado, interesses e de linguagem) das comunidades on-line deve
be familiar to the marketing researcher. estar familiarizado com o pesquisador de marketing.
Data Collection and Analysis. Coleta de Dados e Análise. With online communities chosen, the marketing researcher is Com as comunidades on-line escolhida, o pesquisador de marketing é
ready to begin collecting data for his/her “netnography.” There are at least two important elements pronto para começar a coletar dados para o seu "netnografia." Existem pelo menos dois elementos importantes
to this data collection: (1) the data that the researcher directly copies from the computer-mediated para esta coleta de dados: (1) os dados que o pesquisador diretamente copia a partir do mediada por computador
communications of online community members, and (2) the data that the researcher inscribes comunicações dos membros da comunidade online, e (2) os dados que o pesquisador inscreve
regarding his/her observations of the community, its members, interactions and meanings. sobre suas observações da comunidade, seus membros, interações e significados. As a Como um
distinct advantage from traditional ethnographers, “netnographers” benefit from the nearly vantagem de etnógrafos tradicionais ", netnographers" beneficiar os cerca de
automatic transcription of downloaded documents. transcrição automática de documentos baixados. With the addition of vastly lower search costs Com a adição de pesquisa de custos muito
than face-to-face ethnography (particularly in purely observational forms of “netnography”), data is que cara-a-cara etnografia (particularmente em formas puramente observacionais de "netnografia"), os dados são
often plentiful and easy to obtain. muitas vezes abundantes e de fácil obtenção. In this environment, the netnographer's choices of which data to Neste ambiente, netnographer as escolhas de quais dados
save and which to pursue are important, and should be guided by the research question and salvar e que a prosseguir são importantes, e deve ser guiada pela pergunta de pesquisa e
available resources (eg, number of online members willing to be interviewed, ability of online recursos disponíveis (por exemplo, número de membros online dispostas a serem entrevistadas, a capacidade da linha
members to express themselves, time, researcher skill). membros de se expressar, tempo, habilidade pesquisador). Dealing judiciously with instantaneous Lidar com criteriosamente instantânea
information overload is a much more important problem for “netnographers” than for traditional sobrecarga de informações é um problema muito mais importante para "netnographers" do que para as tradicionais
ethnographers. etnógrafos.
Because the online medium is famous (and infamous) for its casual social elements, Porque o meio online é famosa (e infame) pela sua casual elementos sociais,
messages may be classified first as primarily social or primarily informational, and also as primarily mensagens podem ser classificados inicialmente como eminentemente social ou essencialmente informativo, bem como, principalmente
on-topic or primarily off-topic (where the topic is the research question of interest). sobre o tema-ou principalmente off-topic (onde o tema é a questão de pesquisa de interesse). While including Enquanto incluindo
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all the data in a first pass or “grand tour” interpretation, researchers will generally want to save their todos os dados em um primeiro passo, ou "grand tour" de interpretação, os pesquisadores geralmente quiser salvar a sua
most intense analytical efforts for the primarily informational and primarily on-topic messages. mais intensos esforços analíticos para o primeiro lugar de informação e principalmente no tópico de mensagens.
The posters of online messages may also be categorized. Os cartazes de mensagens on-line também podem ser categorizados. Some novel categories for Algumas categorias de romance
classifying them based on their level of involvement with the online community and the classificá-los com base em seu nível de envolvimento com a comunidade online e as
consumption activity have been outlined by Kozinets (1999). atividade de consumo foram delineadas pelo Kozinets (1999). “Tourists” lack strong social ties and "Turistas" não têm fortes laços sociais e
deep interest in the activity (they often post casual questions). profundo interesse na atividade (que muitas vezes postam perguntas casuais). “Minglers” have strong social ties but "MINGLERS" têm fortes laços sociais, mas
minimal interest in the consumption activity. pouquíssimo interesse pela atividade de consumo. “Devotees” have strong consumption interests, but "Devotos" têm interesses consumo forte, mas
few attachments to the online group. alguns anexos ao grupo online. Finally, “insiders” have strong ties to the online group and to Finalmente, os "insiders" têm fortes laços com o grupo on-line e
the consumption activity, and tend to be long-standing and frequently referenced members. a atividade de consumo, e tendem a ser de longa data e referenciados membros com freqüência. For Para
marketing research useful for marketing strategy formulation, the devotees and the insiders pesquisa de marketing úteis para formulação de estratégias de marketing, os devotos e os insiders
represent the most important data sources. representam os mais importantes fontes de dados. Preliminary research reveals that devoted, enthusiastic, A pesquisa preliminar mostra que dedicou, entusiasmado,
actively involved, and sophisticated user segments are represented in online communities by activamente, e segmentos de usuários sofisticados são representados em comunidades on-line
insiders and devotees (Kozinets 1999). iniciados e devotos (Kozinets 1999). It is also useful to note that online communities themselves Também é interessante notar que as comunidades on-line se
tend to propagate the development of loyalty and (sometimes) heavy usage by socially reinforcing tendem a propagar o desenvolvimento de lealdade e de (às vezes) o uso pesado de reforçar socialmente
consumption. de consumo. Hence, marketing researchers interested in online word-of-mouth and influence may Assim, os pesquisadores interessados em marketing online o boca a boca e pode influenciar
find it useful to track how tourists and minglers are socialized and “upgraded” to insiders and achar que é útil para controlar como turistas e MINGLERS são socializados e "upgrade" para dentro e
devotees in market-oriented online communities (ibid). devotos de mercado das comunidades online (ibidem).
As with grounded theory (Glaser and Struass 1967), data collection should continue as long Tal como acontece com a teoria fundamentada (Glaser e Struass 1967), a coleta de dados deve ser mantido enquanto
as new insights on important topical areas are still being generated. como novas percepções sobre importantes tópicos áreas ainda estão sendo gerados. For purposes of precision, some Para fins de precisão, alguns
netnographers may wish to keep close count of the exact number of messages and web-pages read netnographers pode querer manter a contagem perto do número exato de mensagens e páginas web ler
(in practice, an extremely difficult measurement), as well as how many distinct participants were (Na prática, uma medida extremamente difícil), bem como quantos participantes distintos foram
involved. envolvidas. The strength of “netnography” is its particularistic ties to specific online consumer groups A força da "netnografia" é a sua guanxi para grupos específicos de consumidores on-line
and the revelatory depth of their online communications. ea profundidade da revelação de suas comunicações on-line. Hence, interesting and useful conclusions , Úteis e interessantes conclusões Daqui
might be drawn from a relatively small number of messages, if these messages contain sufficient pode ser extraída de um número relativamente pequeno de mensagens, se essas mensagens contêm suficiente
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descriptive richness and are interpreted with considerable analytic depth and insight. riqueza descritiva e interpretados com profundidade analítica considerável e insight. A time-tested Uma vez testada
and recommended way to help to develop this insight is to write reflective fieldnotes. ea maneira recomendada para ajudar a desenvolver essa percepção é escrever anotações de campo reflexivo. In these Nestes
fieldnotes, “netnographers” record their own observations regarding subtexts, pretexts, notas de campo ", netnographers" gravar suas próprias observações sobre os subtextos, pretextos,
contingencies, conditions and personal emotions occurring during the research. contingências, as condições e emoções pessoais que ocorrem durante a pesquisa. These written Estes escritos
reflections often prove invaluable to contextualizing the data and are a recommended procedure. reflexões, muitas vezes de valor inestimável para contextualizar os dados e é um procedimento recomendado.
However, in a sharp break from traditional ethnography, a rigorous “netnography” could be No entanto, uma quebra acentuada da etnografia tradicional, uma "rigorosa" netnografia poderia ser
conducted using only observation and downloads, and without writing a single fieldnote. realizado por meio de observação apenas e downloads, e sem escrever uma única fieldnote.
As data analysis commences (often concomitant with data collection), the netnographer No início da análise de dados (muitas vezes concomitante com a coleta de dados), o netnographer
must contextualize the online data, which often proves to be more challenging in the social cues- deve contextualizar os dados on-line, que muitas vezes revela-se mais desafiadoras no pistas sociais-
impoverished online context of “netnography.” Software solutions such as the QSR NVivo and contexto online empobrecida de "netnografia". soluções de software como o QSR Nvivo e
Atlas.ti qualitative analysis packages can expedite coding, content analysis, data linking, data análise qualitativa pacotes Atlas.ti pode acelerar a codificação, análise de conteúdo, associando dados, os dados
display, and theory-building functions (Paccagnella 1997, Richards and Richards 1994). exibição e-construção de teoria funções (Paccagnella 1997, Richards e Richards, 1994). However, No entanto,
classification and coding of data are important concerns that inevitably involve trading off symbolic e codificação de dados de classificação são questões importantes que envolvem inevitavelmente trocando simbólica
richness for construct clarity (Van Maanen 1988). riqueza para construir clareza (Van Maanen 1988). Perhaps even more than with ethnography, some Talvez até mais do que com a etnografia, alguns
of the most useful interpretations of “netnographic” data take advantage of its contextual richness das interpretações mais útil de "netnográfico" dados tirar proveito de sua riqueza contextual
and come as a result of penetrating metaphoric and symbolic interpretation (Levy 1959, Sherry e vem como resultado da penetração e interpretação de metáforas simbólicas (Levy 1959, Sherry
1991, Thompson 1997), rather than meticulous classification. 1991, Thompson 1997), ao invés de classificação meticulosa.
Providing Trustworthy Interpretation. Fornecer uma interpretação confiável. For tracking the marketing related behaviors of online Para acompanhamento da comercialização dos comportamentos relacionados online
communities, “netnography” is a stand-alone method. comunidades, "netnografia" é um método de stand-alone. It is a way in which to understand the É uma maneira em que entender a
discourse and interactions of people engaging in computer-mediated communication about market- discurso e as interações de pessoas envolvidas em comunicação mediada por computador sobre o mercado
oriented topics. temas orientados. During the course of netnographic data collection and analysis, the market Durante o curso de coleta de dados netnográfico e análise, o mercado
researcher must follow conventional procedures that the research is reasonable or “trustworthy” pesquisador deve seguir os procedimentos convencionais que a pesquisa é razoável ou "confiável"
(note: in most qualitative consumer research, the concept of “trustworthiness” is used rather than (Nota: a pesquisa qualitativa em consumidores mais, o conceito de "confiança" é usado ao invés de
“validity,” see Wallendorf and Belk 1989, Lincoln and Guba 1985). "Validade", veja Wallendorf e Belk 1989, Lincoln e Guba, 1985).
11 11
“Netnography” is based primarily upon the observation of textual discourse, an important "Netnografia" baseia-se principalmente na observação do discurso textual, um importante
difference from the balancing of discourse and observed behavior in in-person ethnography (cf. diferença entre o equilíbrio de discurso e comportamento observado em pessoa etnografia (cf.
Arnould and Wallendorf 1994). Arnould e Wallendorf 1994). Informants therefore may be presumed to be presenting a more Informantes, por conseguinte, pode presumir-se apresentar mais
carefully cultivated and controlled self-image. cuidadosamente cultivadas e controladas auto-imagem. The uniquely mutable, dynamic, and multiple online A única mutável, dinâmico e múltiplo online
landscape mediates social representation and renders problematic the issue of informant identity paisagem medeia representação social e torna problemática a questão da identidade informante
(Turkle 1995). (Turkle, 1995). However, “netnography” seems perfectly suited to the approach of GH Mead No entanto, "netnografia" parece perfeitamente adequado para a abordagem de GH Mead
(1938) in which the ultimate unit of analysis is not the person, but the behavior or the act. (1938) em que a unidade final da análise não é a pessoa, mas o comportamento ou o ato. We might Poderíamos
also draw insight from the work of founder of 'the linguistic turn' in philosophy, Ludwig também chamar a visão da obra do fundador da "virada lingüística" na filosofia, Ludwig
Wittgenstein. Wittgenstein. Wittgenstein (1953) would suggest that the posting of computer text is a social action Wittgenstein (1953) sugere que a divulgação de texto de computador é uma ação social
(a communicative act or “language game”). (Um ato comunicativo, ou "jogo de linguagem"). If so, then every aspect of the “game” (the act, type and Se sim, então todos os aspectos do "jogo" (o ato, o tipo ea
content of the posting, the medium, and so on) is relevant observational data in itself, capable of conteúdo da postagem, o meio, e assim por diante) é relevante dados observacionais em si mesmo, capaz de
being trustworthy. ser confiável. Utilizing online data in this manner requires a radical shift from traditional Utilizando dados on-line desta forma, requer uma mudança radical do tradicional
ethnography, representing a recontextualized analysis of conversation. etnografia, o que representa uma análise recontextualizado de conversa. This shift is necessary Esta mudança é necessária
because the characteristics of conversation in “netnography” are very different than they are in porque as características de uma conversa em "netnografia" são muito diferentes do que são na
traditional ethnography: they occur through computer-mediation, are publicly available, generated etnografia tradicional: elas ocorrem por meio de mediação, computador, estão disponíveis ao público, gerado
in written text form, and the identities of conversants are much more difficult to discern. em forma de texto escrito, e as identidades dos conversants são muito mais difíceis de discernir.
Generally speaking, links to fixed demographic markers can be useful for some marketing De um modo geral, as ligações para fixo marcadores demográfica pode ser útil para alguns de marketing
strategy purposes (eg, targeting), and “netnography” is more limited than traditional ethnography fins estratégicos (por exemplo, a segmentação), e "netnografia" é mais limitada do que a etnografia tradicional
in this regard. a este respeito. The “netnographer” must determine their importance in relation to the research O "netnographer" deve determinar a sua importância em relação à pesquisa
question and to the authority that will be granted to findings. causa e à autoridade que será concedido aos resultados. It is worth noting that direct É interessante notar que direcionam
misrepresentation is discouraged in most online forums. deturpação é desencorajado na maioria dos fóruns online. Codes of etiquette (see Gunn 2000) and Os códigos de etiqueta (ver Gunn 2000) e
other social pressures are often in effect. outras pressões sociais são frequentemente em vigor. Misrepresenting oneself as a member of a restricted group Desvirtuar-se como membro de um grupo restrito
(eg, women only, or under-18) is an offense punished by flaming, ostracism and banishment. (Por exemplo, apenas as mulheres, ou sub-18) é um crime punido com chamas ostracismo, e banimento.
However, triangulation of “netnographic” data with data collected using other methods, such as in No entanto, a triangulação de "netnográfico" de dados com dados coletados por meio de outros métodos, como em
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interviews, focus groups, surveys, or traditional in-person ethnographies may be useful if the entrevistas, grupos focais, pesquisas ou tradicional etnografias pessoa pode ser útil se o
researcher seeks to generalize to groups other than the populations studied. pesquisador procura generalizar a outros grupos diferentes populações estudadas. Generalizing the study Generalizando o estudo
beyond particular online groups may not be necessary. além de determinados grupos on-line podem não ser necessários. Yet careful triangulation and long-term No entanto, a triangulação cuidadoso e de longo prazo
immersion in the community can be very useful to help marketing researchers distinguish hardcore, imersão na comunidade pode ser muito útil para ajudar os pesquisadores a distinguir marketing hardcore,
marginal extremists from a more typical group of consumers. extremistas marginais a partir de um grupo mais típico dos consumidores. It should be noted that, just as during Deve-se notar que, assim como durante
in-person exchanges, extremists are derided rather quickly in online exchanges, and in the larger na pessoa intercâmbios, os extremistas são ridicularizadas bastante rápido nas trocas on-line, e na maior
communities (with hundreds of active members) moderate views seem to prevail. comunidades (com centenas de membros ativos) visões moderadas parecem prevalecer. Online Online
communities do present fairly explosive environments and, freed of many of the usual social comunidades que apresentam ambientes explosivos de forma justa e, livre de muitos dos habituais social
restraints employed during in-person gatherings, hardcore extremists are often soundly condemned. restrições empregadas durante encontros pessoa-no, os extremistas hardcore são muitas vezes severamente condenadas.
In summary, throughout “netnographic” data collection and analysis, the marketing Em resumo, toda a "netnográfico" recolha de dados e análise, a comercialização
researcher must be conscious that they are analyzing the content of an online community’s pesquisador deve estar consciente de que eles estão analisando o conteúdo de uma comunidade on-line
communicative acts rather than the complete set of observed acts of consumers in a particular atos comunicativos e não o conjunto completo dos actos observados dos consumidores em um determinado
community. da comunidade. This is a crucial difference between “netnography” and traditional ethnography. Esta é uma diferença crucial entre "netnografia" e da etnografia tradicional. Stories Histórias
of online misrepresentation are legion and important. de falsas declarações on-line são inúmeras e importantes. Generalizations to markets or communities Generalizações para os mercados ou as comunidades
other than the one studied, online or off, must have corroborating evidence. diferente daquele que estudou, em linha ou fora, deve ter indícios concordantes. To be trustworthy, the Para ser confiável, a
conclusions of a “netnography” must reflect the limitations of the online medium and the technique. conclusões de um "netnografia" deve reflectir as limitações do meio online e da técnica.
Research Ethics. Ética em Pesquisa. One of the most important differences between traditional ethnography and Uma das diferenças mais importantes entre etnografia tradicional e
“netnography” may be in issues of research ethics. "Netnografia" pode ser em questões de ética em pesquisa. Marketing researchers desiring to use Marketing pesquisadores que desejam utilizar
“netnography” as a method are obliged to consider and follow ethical guidelines. "Netnografia" como um método são obrigados a considerar e seguir as orientações éticas. These guidelines Estas orientações
for ethical social science research in cyberspace have been the topic of recent debate. para a ciência da investigação ética social no ciberespaço tem sido tema de debate recente. Ethical Ética
concerns over “netnography” turn on two nontrivial, contestable and interrelated concerns: (1) are preocupações sobre a "netnografia" virar em dois, contestável e interrelacionados preocupações triviais: (1) são
online forums to be considered a private or a public site?, and, (2) what constitutes “informed fóruns on-line para ser considerado um particular ou um site público?, e (2), o que constitui ", informou
consent” in cyberspace? consentimento "no ciberespaço? A clear consensus on these issues, and therefore on ethically appropriate Um claro consenso sobre estas questões, e, portanto, eticamente adequado
procedures for “netnography,” has not emerged. procedimentos para a "netnografia", não surgiu.
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In a major departure from traditional face-to-face methods liked ethnography, focus groups, Em uma grande partida frente-a-face métodos tradicionais gostei etnografia, grupos de foco,
or personal interviews, “netnography” uses information that is not given specifically, and in ou entrevistas pessoais, "netnografia" utiliza a informação que não é dada de forma específica, e em
confidence, to the marketing researcher. confiança, o pesquisador de marketing. The consumers who originally created the data do not Os consumidores que criou originalmente os dados não
necessarily intend or welcome its use in research representations. necessariamente pretendem ou de boas-vindas a sua utilização nas representações de investigação. Netnographers are professional Netnographers são profissionais
“lurkers”: the uniquely unobtrusive nature of the method is the source of much of its attractiveness "Lurkers": a natureza excepcionalmente discreto do método é a fonte de grande parte de sua atratividade
and its contentiousness. e sua contenda. If marketing researchers undertaking “netnography” act in a manner found Se os pesquisadores de marketing empresa "netnografia" agir de uma maneira encontrada
to be irresponsible and disrespectful by consumers, they may well damage the medium (by either para ser irresponsável e desrespeitoso por parte dos consumidores, eles podem também prejudicar o meio (por qualquer
suppressing outright or driving into secrecy previously open social interactions), and thereby supressão pura e simples ou dirigindo em sigilo anteriormente aberta interações sociais) e, assim,
“poisoning the research well” (Reid 1996). "A pesquisa do envenenamento bem" (Reid, 1996). This is a real risk. Este é um risco real. White (1999) reports how music White (1999) relata como a música
promoters avoided identifying themselves when they acted both as online marketers and as promotores evitado se identificar quando agiram tanto online como os comerciantes e, como
marketing researchers “trying to get a quick gauge on something, where you don't want anyone’s pesquisadores de marketing "tentando obter um indicador de algo rápido, onde você não quer que ninguém
guard to be up” (p. B1). guarda deve ser para cima "(p. B1).
There is genuine debate about the public versus private issue. Há um debate genuíno sobre a questão do público versus privado. Speaking particularly about Falando particularmente sobre
the electronic eavesdropping of observational ethnography, Rafaeli (quoted in Sudweeks ands a espionagem eletrônica de etnografia observacional, Rafaeli (citado em Sudweeks ands
Rafaeli 1995) summarized the consensus of a certain group of scholars debating the private versus Rafaeli 1995) resumiu o consenso de um certo grupo de estudiosos debatem o privado versus
public issue by stating that informed consent was implicit in the act of posting a message to a public emissão pública, afirmando que o consentimento informado estava implícito no ato de enviar uma mensagem a um público
area. região. Given that certain precautions were taken to provide anonymity to informants, this group of Dado que algumas precauções foram tomadas para assegurar o anonimato aos informantes, esse grupo de
scholars approved an ethical policy in which the informed consent of Internet posters was not estudiosos aprovou uma política de ética em que o consentimento informado dos cartazes Internet não foi
required. necessário. King (1996), however, based his analysis on the notion that online forums dissolve King (1996), entretanto, baseou sua análise na noção de que fóruns online dissolver
traditional distinctions between public and private places, making conventional guidelines of distinções tradicionais entre e privadas locais públicos, fazendo orientações convencionais de
anonymity, confidentiality and informed consent unclear. anonimato, confidencialidade e consentimento informado incerto. King (1996) therefore concluded that, King (1996) concluiu que,
because consumers might be deluded about the quasi-public nature of their ostensibly private porque os consumidores podem ser iludidos sobre a natureza quase pública dos seus aparentemente privadas
communications, gaining additional informed consent from them was the responsibility of comunicações, a obtenção do consentimento informado adicional deles era da responsabilidade do
researchers. pesquisadores. Sharf (1999) echoed this heightened sensitivity to the ethics of even observational Sharf (1999) repetiu essa sensibilidade para a ética do mesmo observacional
14 14
“netnography.” "Netnografia".
The potential for “netnography” to do harm is a real risk. O potencial para "netnografia" fazer o mal é um risco real. For instance, if a marketing Por exemplo, se o marketing de um
researcher were to publish sensitive information overheard in a chat room, this might lead to pesquisadora publicasse ouviu informações confidenciais em uma sala de chat, isso pode levar a
embarrassment or ostracism if an associated person's identity was discerned (see Hamman 1996). constrangimento ou o ostracismo, se associado a uma pessoa de identidade foi percebido (veja Hamman, 1996). A A
number of informants have requested that I not publish statements they have posted on public número de informantes pediram que eu não publicar declarações que colocaram em público
bulletin boards, even though I always guarantee their anonymity. quadros de avisos, apesar de eu sempre garantir o seu anonimato. I have always honored these Eu sempre honraram esses
requests. pedidos. This evidence supports the contention that “there is a potential for psychological harm to Esta evidência suporta a afirmação de que "há um potencial para provocar danos psicológicos para
the members of these [online community] groups, depending on the way results are reported” (King Os membros dessas comunidades on-line] grupos [, dependendo da forma como os resultados são relatados "(King
1996, p. 1996, p. 119). 119).
The history of ethnography is tainted with researchers who have published cultural secrets, A história da etnografia está contaminado com pesquisadores que publicaram os segredos culturais,
portrayed people and practices inaccurately or treated customs, individuals and beliefs disdainfully. pessoas retratadas e práticas de forma imprecisa ou tratados costumes, crenças particulares e desdém.
The same potential for harm exists for “netnography.” In a time of increasing public scrutiny of O mesmo potencial de dano existe para "netnografia." Numa época de crescente escrutínio público das
corporate actions and computer privacy issues, as well as institutional review board scrutiny in ações corporativas e as questões de privacidade do computador, assim como a placa de revisão institucional no controlo
academia, “netnographers” would be wise to consider the chief ethical concerns apparent in academia ", netnographers" seria sensato considerar a ética principais preocupações aparentes em
“netnography”: privacy, confidentiality, appropriation of others' personal stories, and informed "Netnografia": a privacidade, confidencialidade, dotação de pessoal dos histórias dos outros, e informou
consent (Sharf 1999). consentimento (Sharf, 1999).
Therefore, there are four ethical research procedures that I recommend for marketing Portanto, há quatro procedimentos éticos de pesquisa que eu recomendo para comercialização
researchers using “netnography.” Although they parallel practices in conventional ethnography,
these first three procedures are not at all obvious to those used to conducting web-searches and
Internet research. They are: (1) the researcher should fully disclose his/her presence, affiliations and
intentions to online community members during any research, (2) the researchers should ensure
confidentiality and anonymity to informants, and (3) the researcher should seek and incorporate
feedback from members of the online community being researched. There is an additional final
procedure that is specific to the online medium. It involves taking a cautious position on the private-
15 15
versus-public medium issue. This procedure requires the researcher to contact community members
and obtain their permission (informed consent) to use any specific postings that are to be directly
quoted in the research. Permission must also be obtained for using idiosyncratic stories as well (see
Sharf 1999, p. 253-255). Obviously, before using any online artifacts such as newsletters, poetry,
stories or photographs, permission by the copyright holder must be granted. Following these Na sequência destas
specially adapted research techniques will help ensure that ethical “netnography” is conducted that
avoids poisoning the well for future researchers.
Member Checks. Member checks (Arnould and Wallendorf 1994, p. 485; Hirschman 1986,
p. p. 244; Lincoln and Guba 1985) are a procedure whereby some or all of a final research report’s
findings are presented to the people who have been studied in order to solicit their comments.
Member checks prove particularly valuable for three reasons relating to the dissimilarity of
“netnography” from traditional ethnography. First, because they allow researchers to obtain and
elicit additional, more specific insights into consumer meanings, they are particularly valuable when
conducting an unobtrusive, observational “netnography” (ie, member checks add the opportunities
for added development and error checking). Secondly, they help ameliorate some of the contentious
ethical concerns described in the previous section, while still preserving the value of unobtrusive
observation (because member checks are usually conducted after data collection and analysis has
concluded). Finally, and perhaps most importantly, member checks can help to establish an ongoing
information exchange between marketing researchers and consumer groups that is unprecedented in
traditional qualitative research. Indeed, using the conduct of “netnography” as a forum for ongoing,
widespread, bidirectional communication between organizations and their communities of
customers could help realize some of the hidden potential in the paradigm of relationship marketing.
As distinct from face-to-face ethnography, where member checks are burdensome and
onerous (and therefore are sometimes omitted), and focus groups and interviews (where member
16 16
checks are not usually employed), “netnographic” member checks are a generally simple and
convenient matter. The low costs of computer-mediated communication enable the marketing
researcher to easily provide any interested reader with some or all of the research text, either
through posting it on a web-page, or sending it as an e-mail attachment. The elicitation and
collection of informant comments is also greatly simplified and expedited through e-mail. Because Porque
member checks, as well as the other elements of “netnography,” can generally be completed in a
more timely manner than face-to-face market-oriented ethnography, they provide the opportunity
for marketers to detect and respond more quickly to the changing consumer tastes, meanings and
desires that underlie important marketing trends. Given these methodological considerations, we
can now proceed to a brief illustrative example of market research using “netnography.”
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE: ANALYSIS OF THE MEANINGS OF CONTEMPORARY
COFFEE CONSUMPTION IN AN ONLINE COFFEE COMMUNITY
Applying Netnographic Methodology
In the short illustrative section that follows, “netnography” will be illustrated as a marketing
research method. método de investigação. “Netnography” will be used to explore and analyze some of the meanings and
symbol-systems that surround contemporary coffee consumption (in particular those surrounding
espresso and Starbucks) for the posters to an online community dedicated to coffee-related
discussion. discussão. Understanding and tracking these meaning and symbol systems is of considerable
practical importance. As many marketers are aware, there have been tectonic shifts in the coffee
market in the last decade. Major consumer packaged goods companies such as General Foods and
Proctor and Gamble were apparently caught unaware by the Seattle coffeehouse trend that came to
be personified by the “Starbucks invasion” that overtook boutique coffee shops and subsequently
encroached upon supermarket aisles (see Pendergrast 1999, Schultz and Yang 1999). Starbucks Starbucks
simultaneously raised the consciousness of coffee connoisseurship, the demand for coffee shops, the
sales of coffee-flavored ice cream and cold drinks, and the market price of a cup of coffee.
17 17
An understanding of coffee meanings can be gleaned from a “netnography” of a dedicated
coffee group. As with the membership of many online market-oriented communities, the members
of this coffee group can be characterized as devoted, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and innovative. In Em
their enthusiasm, knowledge, and experimentation with new forms of coffee consumption, they can
provide information similar to that from “lead users,” the inventive consumers who are at the
leading edge of significant new marketing trends (von Hippel 1986, 1988). While some may be
marginal or hard core users, their creative ideas and insights should not be discounted as without
value. valor. By carefully evaluating their innovative ideas and by cross-validating the quality of
information they provide about current consumption trends with other information sources, we can
reach conclusions that can potentially inform decisions by those in the coffee market such as
consumer packaged goods companies, coffee house retailers, coffee mail order companies (both
online and off), and advertisers working on coffee-related accounts. By carefully corroborating,
interpreting and critically evaluating this information, insights might be gained to inform new
product concepts, new positioning strategies, new advertising campaigns, new distribution tactics
and other marketing strategies and practices. Understanding this online community's messages and
their medium can also provide insight into the use of newsgroups and other online media for coffee-
related marketing.
This “netnography” into online coffee culture began with an overview of the newsgroups
that contained the term “coffee” and were available from my local server. These revealed three
potential newsgroups: <alt.coffee>, <alt.food.coffee>, and <rec.food.drink.coffee>, as well as
several others. vários outros. <Alt.coffee> was chosen because it had by far the highest amount of traffic
(approximately 75 messages per day) and therefore contained the most data. According to 1995
Arbitron data, <alt.coffee> is ranked 1042 out of all newsgroups, is carried by 40% of all service
providers, and is read by 55,939 people worldwide (Reid 1995).
2 2
It contains a core of “insiders”
18 18
who are frequently quoted and referenced by other community members, deferred to by existing and
new members, and mentioned by members as important arbiters of coffee taste. Thus, employing an
informal type of network analysis, these insiders seem to be usefully conceptualized as opinion
leaders. líderes. It also contains many “minglers” who stay on for periods of six months to a year, and a
large number of “tourists” who come and go with specific queries. Past newsgroup surveys
indicated that posters were mostly male and well-educated, with an average age of forty-eight. As Como
part of ongoing research, <alt.coffee> and related newsgroups were followed, with noteworthy
messages downloaded, since February 1998. Several hundred messages were read over the 33
months of “netnographic” research. In addition, the research was informed by searches of coffee-
related web-pages, web-rings, mailing lists, reading of books about coffee, coffee consumption
experimentation and in-person product-related discussions with coffee consumers and connoisseurs.
To keep the amount of data limited to a manageable level, the investigation was limited to 179
postings that were downloaded and printed. The majority of the messages that were downloaded
were posted between July and November 2000.
The 179 postings were pre-classified (before downloading) into topics either relevant or not
relevant to the research topic of interest (contemporary coffee meanings). So, for example, threads
(a thread is a set of interrelated bulletin board postings) like “Coffee Poem,” and “How to make a
great cappuccino at home,” were pursued. Threads such as “NY Chocolate Show” were not,
because they were judged not to be relevant. In order to discover not only what constituted good
coffee, but to understand its antithesis, several message threads related to Postum, such as “Anyone
tried or heard of this?,” were explored and downloaded. As the investigation narrowed onto
discussion of Starbucks, the “Weird Starbucks Experience,” “Peets So Good,” and “Americans-your
thoughts on Starbucks wanted” threads were downloaded. The importance of espresso to the
community was also evident as the investigation narrowed. This topic was explored in “Woohoo,
19 19
just got my Silvia/Rocky.” These threads were chosen for their rich content, descriptiveness,
relevant topic matter and conversational participation by a range of different community members.
The range of conversational participation was important to avoid the research being misled or
unduly influenced by a minority of unrepresentative and vocal extremists.
Utilizing carefully-chosen message threads in “netnography” is akin to “purposive
sampling” in market-oriented ethnography (Wallendorf and Belk 1989, Lincoln and Guba 1985).
Because findings are to be interpreted in terms of a particular sample it is not necessary that the
sample be representative of other populations. However, there is the potential for anonymous self-
promotion by manufacturers and retailers. Therefore, messages that were suspect in this manner
(ie, overly engaging in promotion, or containing an email address related to the company they
were commenting upon) were excluded from the dataset. In addition, and where possible to do so,
apparently off-topic useless talk was coded and excluded from analysis because it did not pertain to
the central topic of coffee consumption.
The coding of the postings involved both data analysis and data interpretation (Spiggle
1994, p. 492). “Netnographic” data in each categorized interaction was compared to the data with
other events coded as belonging to the same category, inquiring into their similarities and
differences (Glaser and Strauss 1967, Spiggle 1994). Each category later formed a theme, abstract
or grounded theory, or “metaobservation” (Arnould and Wallendorf 1994, McCracken 1988,
Lincoln and Guba 1985). For this research, the volume of text was 198 double-spaced 12 point font
pages, representing 117 postings containing 65 distinct e-mail addresses and user names (likely
related to the number of distinct individuals posting messages). Disconfirming evidence was sought,
both within the dataset and in later searches of web-pages and the <alt.coffee> newsgroup, and
resulted in several early themes being rejected. Concomitantly with analysis, the data was subject to
interpretation, which, as Spiggle (1994, p. 497, 500) describes it, is “playful, creative, intuitive,
20 20
subjective, particularistic, transformative, imaginative, and representative.”
To ensure research ethics, I identified myself in postings to the community, told members
about the observation, and provided my credentials. Permission was sought and granted to use
direct quotes. To ensure a “trustworthy” interpretation (Lincoln and Guba 1985), member checks
with nine online informants were conducted. Member check informants said they were “impressed”
by the “netnography,” thought it was “perceptive” and even “fantastic.” They also had several
suggestions. sugestões. Member checks resulted in revisions to the depiction of basic coffee (including
presspot and vacpot preferences), commodification and religious devotion, and the provision of
some additional group characteristics.
A Brief Netnography of Online Coffee Culture on the <alt.coffee> Usenet Newsgroup
As Sherry (1995, p. 356) has noted, “Coffee is among the preeminent vessels of meaning in
consumer culture” (see also Pendergrast 1999). This richness of meaning is clearly evident in the
vital and virtuosic exchanges transpiring through <alt.coffee>. Like any thoroughgoing culture, the
denizens of the <alt.coffee> newsgroup carry their own language. Their posted conversations are
peppered with terms unfamiliar to the uninitiated: baristas and JavaJocks, cremas and roastmasters,
tampers and superautomatics, livias and tiger flecks. It is the specialized language of the coffee
lover, conveying many of the subtleties of coffee taste and preparation.
Understanding the language of consumer segments and its specific underlying social
motivations is a key aspect to achieving the market orientation (Kohli and Jaworski 1990) that can
successfully conceptualize new products, employ existing and new channels and write potent
advertising that meaningfully communicates to markets. While a full translation of this newsgroup’s
language is impossible in this article, we can examine some important cultural themes contained
within it. dentro dela. In this short “netnography,” we examine themes of distinction, consumption webs,
commodification concerns and religious devotion. Marketing research implications will be specified
21 21
throughout, and extended in the conclusion.
Distinction: Decoding the Language of Motivation. On <alt.coffee>, we are repeatedly
taught the specifics of coffee connoisseurship. One of the first things we learn is that “basic coffee,”
the type that most of us enjoy in our offices and homes, is usually beneath contempt because it is
“normally very badly prepared and stale.” Proper coffee, flavorful coffee, must be prepared
correctly. corretamente. This means avoiding paper filters and drip coffee (and percolators) and instead using gold
filters, cafetiere, press pots, or vacuum pots (in order of preference). Yet while it may not be the
most frequently consumed form, the most discussed form of coffee on the newsgroup is espresso.
Real coffee, precious coffee, essential coffee (both literally and figuratively), is espresso, consumed
without “cow juice” or sugar. Making good espresso, we learn, is a complicated affair. It involves Trata-se de
attending carefully to the water, the grind, timing the shot, knowing your machine, keeping its
portafilter (portable filter) and screen clean, the tamper, the blend, the ambient temperature, the age
of the coffee, the degree of the roast, the air humidity, incoming water temperature, internal boiler
temperature, and even such mystical elements as the mood of the barista [coffee server] and “good
old-fashioned luck.”
These are not merely functional considerations, but online incantations of status, upward
social movement and hedonism intended to manifest and demonstrate the “distinction” or “cultural
capital” of upper class tastes and abilities (Bourdieu 1984, see also Holt 1998). There is an elitist or
classist “snob appeal” to coffee knowledge that motivates discerning tasting, as well as the reading
of coffee-related books such as “Uncommon Grounds” (Pendergrast 1999) and authoritative guides
such as the site of “Schomer.” As Levy (1981) convincingly demonstrates, there are strong links
between discernment, social class and the acculturated sense of taste. This acculturation of the
complexities of taste and flavor appears to transpire online. For example, the flavor of good
espresso is much discussed and described online (it is not too watery and not too burnt tasting but
22 22
has a slight agreeable bitterness and a slight astringency).
Also, the group's discursive actions enact a deep desire to go behind the scenes, to
understand what it is that makes a particular type of coffee superior, and then to capture, reproduce,
and by reproducing, become a part of the productive-consumption of the experience. This Este
productive-consumption is also a status marker. Home espresso brewing is a fairly expensive hobby
(but not prohibitively so for the American middle-class), which is partially why it can serve as a
distinctive marker. This need to not only consume, but to actively produce, is a hallmark of deep
devotion to a particular consumption orientation, such as is found in a range of subcultural, sport,
music and media fan experiences (see, eg, Fiske 1989).
Consumption Webs: Mapping the Paths of Desire. The key to these descriptions is not
merely their specifics (although these are of course equally important to consumers and the
marketers who seek to serve them) but the amazing rarity that is conveyed within them, the scarcity
evident in all the stressing over when to pull, when to tamp, how to time, which machine, which
coffee bean. One member cautioned that only out of every five pulls are worth drinking, which
makes educating one's palate about good espresso a difficult task. As with wine production and
tasting, production and discernment of espresso takes time and practice. Some coffeephiles opine
that their tastebud training took months. One active <alt.coffee> poster stated that it gestated for
nine months. nove meses. This coffeephile noted that the down side to educating his palate was that he became a
slave to coffee, and eventually spent huge amounts of money to keep himself from being subjected
to more ordinary coffee (which had become unbearable to him). He also noted that there was no end
to his involvement. Once acculturated, he kept finding new pieces of coffee equipment that he could
not live without, a state of affairs he jokingly-yet-pointedly blamed on his fellow alt.coffee
coffeephiles.
The marketing research implications of these postings lay in the way in which some
23 23
coffeephiles describe their motivation to develop taste leading to the expenditure of large amounts
of money on coffee equipment. Once acculturated into the proper taste of espresso and its rarity,
these consumers reject conventional coffee offerings (often giving them terrible, excretory names)
and popular cafés (often emphasizing their robotic qualities) and are drawn into multiple
investments for which there seem no end. The comments above, in which a coffeephile ascribes his
increasing investment to the influence of a fellow newsgroup member suggest the power of the
newsgroup to acculturate consumption practices. This acculturating force, which drives increasing
investments in a new cultural interest, has been termed the “Diderot effect” (McCracken 1990). In Em
the <alt.coffee> newsgroup, there is evidence for an acculturated transition from regular home-
brewed coffee, to basic press pots (such as the Bodum) to better press pots to vacuum pots. Another Outro
is from home-brews to café-bought coffee, to café-bought “fancier” drinks like latté and
cappuccino, to store-bought espresso, to home-made espresso, which requires a starter machine,
then a better machine, a coffee bean grinder, then a coffee bean roaster, then a kitchen vent for your
roaster, then better beans, and so on. This subtle inculcation of coffee tastes (on a trajectory
culminating in a taste for espresso) is often mapped out in coffeephile communications, tracing a
gustatory route through, for example, cappuccino, macchiato and con pannas to espresso.
In total, this set of united products could be interpreted as a “product constellation”
(Solomon and Assael 1987) linked to the real or desired social class of these coffee drinkers. For Para
marketing researchers, this product map might be thought of as a particular consumption web that
increasingly draws a group of consumers into deeper and more profound levels of (sub)cultural
involvement and enthusiasm, consumption and investment. Understanding the configuration of
these particular consumption webs would provide coffee-related manufacturers and retailers with
ideas for new product and service offerings and bundling (for example, bundling together brands of
products that are seen as associated with other brands; bundling together kitchen venting systems
24 24
with roasters; bundling features on espresso machines to produce consumer-related forms of
coffee). café).
Commodified Brands: Brand Image and Community Concerns. Another important cultural
code links good coffee to passion, artistry, and authenticity as a fully realized human being. The A
discussions that reveal this centered upon the nature of the “barista,” or coffee server. The online O online
coffeephiles proclaim that “the product (be it food or coffee)” is always “an expression of the
maker's personality” because it is “an art after all” [“Vincent
3 3
,” posted on <alt.coffee> 08/06/2000],
that a “barista” infers “an artisan…like a seasoned sommelier or vintner” [“Angelo,” posted on
<alt.coffee> 08/09/2000]. Several posters claim that they would not visit a café whose baristas were
not coffee lovers (and several others disagreed). An existential dimension is added by one of the
original posters, in which he rejects the term “artisan,” but says that being an authentic barista “has
to do with the way you live your life.” Coffee becomes, to this culture member, a metaphor for life,
in which either life is mere rule following “or you really experience what life is all about”
[“Vincent,” posted on <alt.coffee> 08/09/2000]. The mark of authenticity is baristas who
“drink/live coffee” just as do the denizens of <alt.coffee>. It is passion that matters: “Coffee is the
passion of a barista and a lifelong profession” [“Peter,” posted on <alt.coffee> 08/13/2000]. This Este
emphasis is also present in an online debate between Starbucks employees. The more passionate
coffee drinker (ex-employee) accused the other (current employee):
“Coffee is just another product for you too. You could just as well be selling those turnip
twaddlers of flame retardant condoms, but as long as you are having fun and paying your
bills, that is all that matters to you, right? I am afraid that it is not quite that simple for many
of us. um de nós. We take our coffee very seriously, and to have it demeaned in such a manner is a slap
in the face. Coffee is much more than a tool. It is passion, it is intrigue, mystery, seduction,
fear, betrayal, love, hate, and any other core human emotion that you can think of, all
wrapped into one little bean.” —Peter, posted on <alt.coffee> 08/14/2000
Because Peter's rich and revealing comments were applauded and referenced by many
different members of the online community, they seem to cut to the core of some important (and
25 25
shared) impressions of Starbucks among <alt.coffee> members. Coffee is emotional, human, deeply
and personally relevant —and not to be “commodified” (Kopytoff 1988) or treated as “just another
product.” This concern is reflected in two negative newsgroup nicknames for Starbucks: as an
expensive and faceless corporate entity, it is “*$”; as a killer of mom-and-pop local stores it is
“corporate coffee.” Presenting important cultural clues to the positioning of any new coffee
marketer that seeks to compete with the Starbucks brand, the discussion of Starbucks turned into a
more general discussion of the perils of commercialization and cultural commodification. The A
resentment over the commodification of coffee connoisseurship leads to dialectics of authenticity
and genuineness:
What I am coming to in my own life and consumer behavior is that I want to support and
savor the true specialty items while I can. I'd rather eat Barry's fudge…than Godiva 'faux
specialty' chocolates. And I'd rather drink the local café's coffee rather than Starbucks’s
because, well, those tiny, passionate companies are more precious than Starbucks….Any
corporation with food chemists can make Starbucks' product, IMO [in my opinion]. Only a Apenas um
passionate, driven romantic would keep making top-notch specialty coffee day in and day
out. para fora. Lose Starbucks and another clone clicks into that economic eco-niche. Lose a lover or a
hero and you might wait a long time until another comes along. —“Fred,” posted on
<alt.coffee> 11/19/2000
Fred's dialectic transcends functional characteristics such as coffee flavor. Its overriding A sua substituição
theme is that vendors or manufacturers should demonstrate a genuine passion for the product equal
to, or close to, that of its connoisseur consumers. This sentiment resists, in some sense, the
commodification of labor in which people can be mechanistically trained to produce items without
enjoying them as consumers. It is a postmodern longing to return to productive-consumption (Firat
and Dhalokia 1998). Fred's dialectic of commodification reflects a search for authenticity, ties to
the local, caring by producers, craftsmanship and artistry. In the same posting, Fred explains that to
support Starbucks is not to support local merchants like “Tom” a coffee “maven” who is obsessed
with “the Zen of the cup” (a spiritual-religious metaphor connoting devotion and authenticity). To Para
support local cafes is not only a statement about coffee, but about human values and the world. As Como
26 26
Fred states, it helps to maintain “a world of beauty and passion.”
Religious Devotion: Uncovering Meaningful Metaphors. This utopian “world of beauty and
passion” is evident in the wonderfully detailed accounts of coffee preparation and consumption
provided in the newsgroups, which serve as sources of espresso education, expressionism and
exhibitionism. Members draw one another in with dramatic flair and literary devices that playfully
hint at the joyful mindset of the coffee connoisseur and, tongue-in-cheek, employ sacred metaphors.
Describing himself in the third person, “Jerry” lovingly details (in several pages of text) his exact
experiences with his new coffeemaker:
He hit the brew switch [on his new Livia 90 cappuccino/espresso maker]...at first, nothing.
Then….beautiful reddish-brown crema…the “tiger flecks” he had heard so much about but
rarely had seen flowed forth and fell just short of two ounces in 25 seconds. He stood just
admiring the crema when suddenly a voice called to him, “The milk! The Milk!” —Jerry,
posted on <alt.coffee> 11/02/2000
As with Fred's “passion,” his David and Goliath-story “hero,” and 'world of beauty,' the
language Jerry uses here is romantic, idealistic and Biblical. The crema (oil from the coffee beans)
is “beautiful,” and it “flowed forth” much like a river of milk and honey might do for Old
Testament Israelites. Jerry did not simply remember to steam the milk, but portrayed it as “a voice”
that “called [un]to him,” as if he were a Biblical prophet. The drama and religion may be parodic,
but are repeatedly present and meaningful as a local cultural code, indicating that this is not merely
the meandering of extremists. For example, other postings replicate the dramatic and religious
metaphor, calling the lack of passion by a “Starbucks Jock” “Sacrilege!” and the placing of sugar in
espresso the mark of one who “has no soul.”
The interpretive coup de grâce may be in the term that this community of coffeephiles uses
for the elusive, religious experience, the exhaustive apotheosis of espresso moments, the holy grail
of the coffee dream quest. It is called a “god shot.” It represents the sublime moment of coffee
productive-consumption, an absolutely perfect, indefinable moment of glory, one that cannot be
27 27
captured, reproduced or summoned at will. A god-shot is a supernatural event. It is a moment when
human being and nature are reunited in a perfect convergence of elements (water, fire, air,
earth/grounds), resulting in a perfectly pleasurable occurrence. This interpretation does not suggest
that coffee consumption is actually a religion for these coffeephiles. But for them it has religious
aspects of search, passion, and transcendence (see Belk, Wallendorf and Sherry 1989), and deeply
meaningful ties to identity (Fiske 1989). As comments to Jerry's postings indicate, these metaphors
are highly motivational and persuasive, and thus of interest to marketing researchers.
IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSION
Deriving from naturally-occurring, communal, cross-consumer interaction that is not found
in focus groups or personal interviews, “netnography” reveals interesting consumer insights,
impressions, linguistic conventions, motivations, consumption web linkages and symbols. It É
provides feedback on brands and products that has not been elicited in any way by marketers —
eliminating the researcher-induced demand effects of these methods and of traditional ethnographic
inquiry and interview. The method achieves all of this in a manner that is far more unobtrusive,
convenient and accessible than traditional ethnography. It is also far more economical.
As the consumer verbatims and descriptions provided above may attest, online consumers
tend to be knowledgeable, educated, and to provide interesting consumption insights. Because Porque
message posters are in some respect self-selected for their eloquence, the data they provide can be
extraordinarily rich. Online posters appear to spend large amounts of time and money on their focal
consumption activity. By carefully evaluating their innovative ideas, their knowledge base and their
consumer insights, marketing researchers can obtain useful information similar to that obtained
from “lead users” (von Hippel 1986, 1988). Ideas for innovative trends in particular realms of
consumption such as novel product concepts may thus be initiated by investigations that begin with
“netnography.” However, careful consideration and cross-validation of the online data will be
28 28
critical to avoiding being misled by overly zealous or vocal community members. Similarly, cross-
validation and a careful categorical analysis will be required to understand the relationship of
different types online community member to typical online and offline consumers.
Implications of <alt.coffee> Netnography. Given the familiar diffusion of innovations
model, it can easily be argued that today's devoted or extreme consumer perspective can yield
important insights into the more mainstream consumer behavior of tomorrow (von Hippel 1988).
The implications of this marketing research for wise coffee marketers are thus considerable. It may
have appeared, in the wake of Starbucks, that marketers had been one-upped by the Seattle
coffeehouse craze, and had missed the opportunity to raise the market to its new upscale level. Yet, No entanto,
if the market intelligence of the <alt.coffee> group is correct, coffee marketers have barely even
begun to plumb the depths of taste, status and snob appeal waiting to be explored by discriminating,
in-need-of-market-education coffee consumers.
Experimental and innovative online coffee consumers offer a range of discoveries that, like
a lead user analysis, inform our understanding of coffee marketing trends. For not only does
<alt.coffee> offer the enticing consumption webs and socialization pressures that can turn
decaffeinated drinkers into home-roasting, home-brewing, espresso savorers, willing to throw out
four shots of expensive brew in search of the all-elusive but sublimely satisfying “god shot,” but it
also suggests that there is far more to coffee consumption than the in-person “social,” “communal,”
and socially responsible aspects that has been so successfully exploited by Starbucks. New brands
and blends of beans, new means of delivering the freshest of fresh beans (online and off), new
means of roasting, new bean roasting services, new espresso and cappuccino machines, new forms
of education and instruction, new coffee tasting clubs, and new types of cafés are super-premium
opportunities that await further evaluation and exploration by opportunistic new product developers
and market educators.
29 29
From the practical standpoint of professional marketing researchers, identifying appropriate
online communities for particular marketing research clients is more art than science. As this
<alt.coffee> “netnography” demonstrates, the information present in a particular newsgroup is
likely to be of more value to certain types of industry players. In <alt.coffee>, the information is
particularly valuable to online and offline marketers of high-end espresso makers, roasters, grinders,
cafés, roasted and unroasted coffee beans, and those selling coffee connoisseurship-related goods.
However, the information provided in the “netnography” about coffee's cultural cachet
(relating it to social distinction, artisanship, craftsmanship, personal involvement, passion,
authenticity, humanity and religious devotion) might be useful in articulating a range of positioning
and branding strategies with wider appeal. For example, newsgroup participants critique of
Starbucks brand meaning (seen as mechanistic, dispassionate, oppressive, overly large and lacking
humanity or a human touch) might be seen as feedback to Starbucks, and opportunity for Starbucks'
competitors. concorrentes. If the Starbucks brand is becoming passé, a mere symbol (“*$”) of over-roasting, a
good place to read and hang out but not to drink coffee, then the next generation of coffee brands to
tap into the discriminating coffee ethos will likely thrive by positioning on the opposite end of these
dimensions: human, passionate, roasted-right, free, alive, locally involved, existentially complete.
These cultural meanings will draw on rich associations to art and artisanship, craftsmanship and
connoisseurship —perhaps even religion and spirituality— and do it in a manner that is authentic
and genuine. Coffee companies with a true market orientation will find opportunities in this
“netnographic” data and their own coffee consumer communion not simply for a new appearance or
façade, but for a depth of marketplace involvement and the understanding of a genuine, passionate
coffee-lover.
Summary Conclusion. Online communities devoted to consumption-related topics are an
increasingly important source of data for marketing research. These groups may be construed as
30 30
individual market segments that are of interest in their own right and may be of noteworthy size. As Como
purchase and consumption decisions are discussed and debated in online communities, it is
important that marketing researchers have rigorous and ethical methodological procedures to collect
and interpret this data in this novel and challenging context. As the illustrative example
demonstrates, “netnography” can be a useful, flexible, ethically-sensitive and unobtrusive method
adapted to the purpose of studying the language, motivations, consumption linkages and symbols of
consumption-oriented online communities.
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NOTES NOTAS
1 1
For example, surveys on adults who use online services indicate that 36% of them access
newsgroups and 25% visit chat rooms (Visgaitis 1996) and these numbers appear to be growing
(Jones 1999). Reid's (1995) analysis of Arbitron data provides a much higher figure of 71.6% of all
Internet users assessing newsgroups.
2 2
Given the growth of the Internet between 1995 and 2000 and the doubling of message
postings on <alt.coffee> during that period, it is likely that as of 2000 the newsgroup had over
100,000 readers worldwide.
3 3
Pseudonyms are used throughout to protect informant confidentiality.
