Digital ethnography: How to generate rich, contextual, real-world insights

The global pandemic has driven increased use of digital technologies in all aspects of life. This change in behavior means that the design of ethnographic research needs to change. Digital ethnography offers a practical and non-intrusive alternative to in-person observation. By leveraging the power of the smartphone, it enables researchers to walk a mile in the shoes of the customer, both patients and physicians. It allows pharma to gain an understanding of the healthcare journey from their perspectives, as told by them, by documenting what really matters and how their experiences affect their daily lives and decision-making.

Based on our expertise and experience of conducting digital ethnographic research across a wide range of therapy areas, we have put together a best practice guide. In it, we explain how digital ethnography goes beyond traditional qualitative methods to explore the ‘unknowns’ and the ‘known unknowns’ using behavioral science principles. In addition, we explore the potential opportunities for digital ethnography research in healthcare and share a range of case studies addressing a number of different objectives.