Business Anthropology

This article discusses various practices that demonstrate the application of anthropology in the field of business.
Business anthropology is a subfield of applied anthropology that seamlessly merges anthropological theories, methods, and knowledge to address practical problems in the business world. By studying the complex interactions between businesses, consumers, and the communities and cultures in which they operate, this subfield aims to discover the secrets of successful commerce.
According to the article , there are three branches of business anthropology: (1) design anthropology, (2) consumer research, and (3) organizational culture change. Design anthropology involves applying anthropology to the corporate design of products and/or services. Consumer research involves acquiring information from the public about the thoughts and actions that affect buying/spending. This can be conducted in the form of market research or direct observation of market/consumer trends. Examples of data collection in this branch include surveys and customer reviews. Finally, organizational culture change happens internally within a corporation’s structure.
A key area in which business anthropology is applied is consumer research, which helps businesses better understand their customers’ needs and desires . This can involve conducting in-depth ethnographic research via interviews, focus groups, observational studies, and analyses of how consumers interact with products and services. By studying consumer behavior, business anthropologists gain valuable insights that can aid in identifying opportunities for innovation and developing strategies to improve customer satisfaction.
Consumer research is considered an emerging field in applied anthropology. Anthropologists engaged in consumer research work for both the consumers and producers of the goods purchased. Culture is very important in this type of research, and its importance to people is a concept that is not well understood by corporations and international moguls . Companies must usually outsource their consumer research simply because they do not have the capacity to hire in-house people who are trained in this specific knowledge. This is where applied anthropologists come into play, as they can be contracted to perform consumer research separately from a company’s normal operations.
Usually, marketing comes after product development. This can be a problem because no matter how much a corporation spends on marketing, if it has designed or developed a consumer product that clashes with present-day cultural realities, then no one is going to buy it. The effort placed into promoting a product no one wants, or a product that fundamentally clashes with the shared beliefs or customs of a particular people , could backfire on the company that created it. Marketing budgets are thus huge on purpose, as through this process, businesses hope to get their products out into the world and people’s consciousness. This prioritization of marketing ultimately created a need for people knowledgeable about cultures and trends to be involved early in the product development stage. This need is what has fueled the emergence of this new type of consumer research field involving applied anthropology, which is referred to as design anthropology.
The prospects of this new field are great. There is a significant demand for people who want to help businesses gear their products to jive well culturally with consumers. What can offend one person could very well have the impact of offending everyone in an entire culture.
According to consumer research, if a product does not project to do well in the market early on , this information needs to be presented to corporate administration for review. Corporate administrators then need to absorb this information and proactively decide what to do accordingly. They could squash the product entirely from production before spending another marketing dollar on it, or the company could redesign the product and its own internal cultural structure to be viewed as a better “fit” for the consumers to whom the company wants to promote the product. In this sense, ethnographic studies may be valuable because they take a holistic view of a culture and its participants , which usually involves studying the unique power struggles that occur within a particular community and area being studied. It also involves delving into the personal wants, needs, and motivators of the people within that culture.
The above information is powerful for corporations; they are willing to pay for people who can provide them with this kind of insight into their projected target markets. This is where the need for anthropology outside academia comes into play. A look at the history of this emerging field shows that applied anthropologists doing this work today did not start that way. The anthropologists engaged in consumer research have forged their own path in this emerging field of consumer research, utilizing their unique skills in applying anthropology.
Another important area where business anthropology is utilized is cross-cultural communication and collaboration. As businesses become increasingly global, they must learn to navigate cultural differences that can affect communication and collaboration across regions and cultures. A key strength of business anthropology in this regard is its focus on cultural sensitivity and understanding. Business anthropologists recognize that culture plays a significant role in shaping consumers’ behaviors and attitudes toward business. Thus, they help businesses comprehend the cultural norms, values, and beliefs of different communities and develop more effective cross-cultural communication strategies. This can involve conducting research on cultural differences, developing cross-cultural training programs for employees, and creating marketing strategies tailored to the preferences of people from different cultures.
The ever-increasing globalization of business is what is fueling this trend as more companies are breaking into emerging markets that they do not understand or cannot respectfully comprehend. If businesses fail to make a transition into these new markets, this can leave them bankrupt. Global companies gearing their products toward close-knit communities can offend and commit all kinds of faux pas in attempts to sell more goods.
In the same vein, business anthropology can assist businesses in developing more socially responsible, sustainable practices. Business anthropologists recognize that businesses have a responsibility to operate in a manner that is socially and environmentally responsible , and they endeavor to develop strategies that promote sustainability and social responsibility. By applying their knowledge of social and cultural dynamics, they can guide businesses in identifying and addressing the social and environmental impacts of their operations to develop more sustainable business practices that benefit the company and the community. This responsibility entails an in-depth exploration of the social and environmental impacts of a company’s operations, the development of sustainability strategies, and a strong partnership with communities to ensure that business practices are socially responsible and sustainable.
Business anthropologists recognize that organizational culture and employee satisfaction have a significant impact on business performance, and they strive to develop strategies that improve organizational culture, employee satisfaction, and business performance. This can involve researching organizational culture, employee satisfaction, and business performance, and developing effective human resource management practices to improve employee engagement and retention.
There are also some potential challenges and limitations associated with the application of anthropology in the business context. For example, business anthropologists may encounter challenges in effectively communicating their findings and recommendations to business leaders who prioritize financial outcomes over cultural sensitivity and social responsibility. Nonetheless, by working collaboratively with business leaders and other professionals, they can help promote more culturally sensitive and socially responsible business practices that benefit both the company and the community.
A lthough I can see how this does improve prospective career options for those studying anthropology as a profession, I personally do not like how the study of people and cultures for the advancement of human knowledge and proscribed cultural awareness and preservation is being transformed into a means of further promoting consumerism and capitalism on a massive global scale. I may have an anticapitalist view on this, but I truly believe that an increasing number of corporations do not care about people buying their goods; they just care about whether people will buy them. I do not know if I would want a career studying people just so that corporations can profit more. Preservation of the extra-corporate culture is not what a company is after; it is the integration of the company’s own culture with that of the market culture that the company is planning to turn into faithful consumers of its goods. I akin this to, “Let me learn about you so that you can then become like me and buy my stuff.” This does not sit well with me.
Overall, business anthropology is an important subfield of applied anthropology that can help businesses better understand and engage with the diverse communities and cultures in which they operate. By applying anthropological insights and methods to real-world business problems, business anthropologists can contribute toward creating more culturally sensitive and socially responsible businesses that are better equipped to succeed in today’s global marketplace.
Setha Low and Sally Engle Merry. “Engaged Anthropology: Diversity and Dilemmas.” Current Anthropology 51, no. S2 (October 2010). As a discipline, anthropology has increased its public visibility in recent years with its growing focus on engagement. Although the call for engagement has elicited responses in all subfields and around the world, this special issue focuses on engaged anthropology and the dilemmas it raises in U.S. cultural and practicing anthropology. Within this field, the authors distinguish a number of forms of engagement: (1) sharing and support, (2) teaching and public education, (3) social critique, (4) collaboration, (5) advocacy, and (6) activism. They show that engagement takes place during fieldwork; through applied practice; in institutions such as Cultural Survival, the Institute for Community Research, and the Hispanic Health Council; and as individual activists work in the context of war, terrorism, environmental injustice, human rights, and violence. A close examination of the history of engaged anthropology in the United States also reveals an enduring set of dilemmas, many of which persist in contemporary anthropological practice.