Chapter 13: Using Netnography and Online Platforms for Qualitative Consumer Insight

Online platforms are increasingly used, not only by companies connecting with consumers, but also by consumers communicating with other consumers about their product choices and experiences. This chapter provides an overview of the qualitative methods used to study consumers’ online communication and gather consumer insight from online platforms in order to understand consumers’ wishes, desires, and needs. We will draw on existing literature first to provide an explanation of what netnography is, and second, to elucidate the types of consumer-related questions it can answer. Moreover, selected examples will present different applications of netnography including data mining, virtual consumer communities and other forms of user generated content.