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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Netnography and Design Thinking
T2 - Development and Illustration in the Vegan Food Industry
AU - Ashman, Rachel
AU - Patterson, Anthony
AU - Kozinets, Robert
N1 - This article is (c) Emerald Group Publishing and permission has been granted for this version to appear here. Emerald does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
PY - 2021/9/30
Y1 - 2021/9/30
N2 - PurposeThis paper aims to strengthen the process of design thinking by aligning it with netnography, specifically auto-netnography, which this paper asserts is particularly suited to the task of studying and enriching the actions of “designerly types” who seek to fashion monetisable businesses.Design/methodology/approachThis paper conducts an auto-netnography with a structure divined from established design thinking theory – that of empathising, defining, ideating, prototyping and testing – to afford an understanding of how a popular health food influencer designs a successful vegan restaurant.FindingsThis paper illustrates the empathetic relationship between a long-term audience member and an entrepreneur/designer/marketer. The intimate cultural analysis reveals the nature of their symbiotic entwinement. In a way that few other methods could, the method shows how this sense of reciprocity, deepens over time.Research limitations/implicationsConducting an auto-netnography is a prolonged and difficult task. Nonetheless, by revealing the rituals, expectations, roles and routines of content creators, designers and followers, this paper illustrates exciting possibilities for the enactment and development of design thinking in the marketing field.Practical implicationsDesignerly types such as marketers and content creators should closely study, listen to and interact with consumers by using a similarly staged process that draws equally from design thinking and auto-netnography.Originality/valuePrior to this study, existing research has not previously linked design thinking with either netnographic or auto-netnographic research.
AB - PurposeThis paper aims to strengthen the process of design thinking by aligning it with netnography, specifically auto-netnography, which this paper asserts is particularly suited to the task of studying and enriching the actions of “designerly types” who seek to fashion monetisable businesses.Design/methodology/approachThis paper conducts an auto-netnography with a structure divined from established design thinking theory – that of empathising, defining, ideating, prototyping and testing – to afford an understanding of how a popular health food influencer designs a successful vegan restaurant.FindingsThis paper illustrates the empathetic relationship between a long-term audience member and an entrepreneur/designer/marketer. The intimate cultural analysis reveals the nature of their symbiotic entwinement. In a way that few other methods could, the method shows how this sense of reciprocity, deepens over time.Research limitations/implicationsConducting an auto-netnography is a prolonged and difficult task. Nonetheless, by revealing the rituals, expectations, roles and routines of content creators, designers and followers, this paper illustrates exciting possibilities for the enactment and development of design thinking in the marketing field.Practical implicationsDesignerly types such as marketers and content creators should closely study, listen to and interact with consumers by using a similarly staged process that draws equally from design thinking and auto-netnography.Originality/valuePrior to this study, existing research has not previously linked design thinking with either netnographic or auto-netnographic research.
KW - Food
KW - Well-being
KW - Design thinking
KW - Netnography
KW - influencers
KW - Autonetnography
KW - Content creators
U2 - 10.1108/EJM-02-2020-0155
DO - 10.1108/EJM-02-2020-0155
M3 - Journal article
VL - 55
SP - 2491
EP - 2514
JO - European Journal of Marketing
JF - European Journal of Marketing
SN - 0309-0566
IS - 9
ER -