SPA Future Thinking Unveils Ethnographic Tool

UK-based researcher SPA Future Thinking has introduced an ethnographic tool called See-Me, which it claims 'bridges the gap' between actual and recalled consumer behaviour.

The move follows the firm's February launch of a downloadable app called Be-There, which enables consumers to record their activities via their mobile phone using video, audio, pictures, text and barcodes in-situ, without the presence of a researcher.

See-Me has been developed in the firm's in-house Quantum Lab and provides a visual narrative of consumer life by tracking where respondents go, what they do and what they are exposed to.

The solution uses a range of different cameras - from video and motion sensor to fish-eye - which the company says enables consumers to carry on with their everyday activities without interference, and can also be used in situ to understand everything from product interaction to in-depth consumer lifestyle.

The resulting footage is used as stimulus during a face-to-face session to establish participants' thoughts and motivations for the activities captured on camera. These are then distilled into insights and a summary multimedia output created.

Like Be-There, the firm says See-Me use new technology created to work alongside traditional research methods.

CEO Jon Priest (pictured) comments: 'Research participants are often unable to recall everything they do with complete accuracy and it's the accuracy and small details we want to allow us to fully understand real behaviour.'

Web site: www.spafuturethinking.com .