How Anthropology Affects Business

When you think of an anthropologist, you are likely to imagine a fellow in an Indiana Jones getup lost in the Amazonian jungle. However, you are equally likely to find an anthropologist wearing an Armani suit while he tries to break the codes, taboos and traditions of the corporate jungle. The rules of anthropology are valid for every culture, even within the Wall Street tribe.

 

The Human Dimension of Business

• The word "anthropology" comes from Greek roots that translate as "the study of humans". While accountants, financers and marketers will sometimes forget that they are dealing with persons and not numbers, anthropologists will, by definition, remember that organizations and structures are ultimately made by and for human beings.

  Anthropology deals with the shared sets of beliefs and values of a common group of people. While this is usually taken to mean language, taboos and religious beliefs, anthropology can also focus on more businesslike questions like the types of food one eats and the clothes that one wears.

Place, space, and everything in between: The use of Proxemics in Branding

By Gavin Johnston, Two West Chief Anthropologist

The Shopper Continuum

November 5, 2009

The Shopper Continuum
By Gavin Johnston, Two West Chief Anthropologist
To the credit of marketing, advertising, and research people the days of talking about the consumer as the sole focus of shopping activity are essentially gone. We recognize that the shopper and the consumer are not always the same. Indeed, it is often the case that they are not.

The focus has shifted to the process that takes place between the first thought a consumer has about purchasing an item, all the way through the selection of that item. While this is a reasonable approach to understanding the people who buy and use a company'™s products, it still has one principle flaw. Namely, it focuses on individuals rather than systems of people and the behavioral and cultural drivers behind their actions. The distinction is subtle but important because it assumes the shopping experiences goes well beyond the product itself, which is largely functional, and considers the product (and brand) as a means of facilitating social interaction. In other words, it thinks about shopping as a means of establishing cultural norms, emotional bonds, and identity.