Zastosowanie metod antropologii biznesu jako innowacyjnej koncepcji badań konsumentów
Application of business anthropology methods as an innovative approach to consumer research

Summary/Abstract: This article presents the journey that the discipline of anthropology has undergone since colonial times, when its main purpose was to understand the culture of the tribes in their natural environment journay until nowadays, where as business anthropology it deals with understanding the culture of the organization and the search for so-called “insight” to improve the company management and provide competitive advantage in highly globalized markets. Using this advantage, companies want to be ahead of its competitors in introducing innovations that meet the needs of a wide range of consumers. Ethnography is an integral part of anthropology as a major tool for the work of anthropologists. Increasing importance for the business of this type of qualitative researches creates the interest of decision makers using the so-called the human aspect both in the employee and in the consumer field – and anthropology has been studied this matter extensively since the earliest centuries. The article ends with a description of own case study which is the research using the ethnography method for the purpose of searching innovation. This article addresses an issue of the use of ethnography treated as anthropological research method for applications in economic practice, in particular in the field of research on consumer behaviors and needs. It shows the innovative nature of anthropology and business combination, while presenting numerous practical examples of applications, it points to the growing importance of ethnography among qualitative methods. The literature review presents a journey of the anthropology since colonial times, when its main aim was to understand the culture of tribes in their natural environment to the present day, where as a business anthropology it is concerned with understanding the organization’s culture and searching for so-called “insights” aimed to improve management of the company and provide a competitive advantage in highly globalized markets. This advantage is achieved by companies overtaking their competitors in implementation of innovation according to the needs of a wide range of consumers. An integral part of anthropology is ethnography understood as the main tool of anthropologist’s work. The growing importance of this type of qualitative research for business is created by the growing interest of decision-makers in so-called human aspect, both in the employee and consumer dimension. The article ends with a description of case study, research using the ethnography method in search of product innovations in construction industry. Business anthropology in this case has fulfilled its practical role. As a result of conducted ethnography, two innovative projects were created: the first product and the second customer service. Case study is a positive example of the use of scientific qualitative method in business.

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