With as many as 1 billion people now using online communities such as newsgroups, blogs, forums, social networking sites, podcasting, videocasting, photosharing communities, and virtual worlds, the internet is now an important site for research. This exciting new text is the first to explore the discipline of 'Netnography' - the conduct of ethnography over the internet - a method specifically designed to study cultures and communities online. For the first time, full procedural guidelines for the accurate and ethical conduct of ethnographic research online are set out, with detailed, step-by-step guidance to thoroughly introduce, explain, and illustrate the method to students and researchers. The author also surveys the latest research on online cultures and communities, focusing on the methods used to study them, with examples focusing on the new elements and contingencies of the blogosphere (blogging), microblogging, videocasting, podcasting, social networking sites, virtual worlds and more. This book will be essential reading for researchers and students in social sciences such as anthropology, sociology, marketing and consumer research, organization and management studies and cultural and media studies.

Table of Contents

Cultures and Communities Online Understanding Culture Online Researching Online: Methods The Method of Netnography Planning and Entree Data Collection Data Analysis Conducting Ethical Netnography Representation and Evaluation Advancing Netnography: The Changing Landscape

Author Biography

Robert V. Kozinets is a globally recognized expert on social media, marketing, branding and innovation. Besides inventing netnography, he has authored and co-authored over 100 pieces of research on the intersection of technology, media, brands, and consumers. Robert V. Kozinets is widely recognized as the inventor of netnography, and a social media marketing and research authority. He has authored and co-authored over 150 pieces of research, and hundreds more Tweets (@kozinets) and blog posts (kozinets.net), usually about the intersection of technology, media, brands, methods, institutions, and social groups. This includes four books-three of them Sage Method books. Currently, Kozinets is Associate Editor of the Journal of Consumer Research and the Journal of Retailing, an Academic Trustee of the Marketing Science Institute, and is the Industry seat on the Board of Directors of the Association for Consumer Research. On the industry side, he has extensive speaking, training, and consulting experience with a range of global companies and organizations, including HSBC, TD Banking and Financial Group, American Express, Merck, Sony, Nissan, eBay, Campbell Soup, and L'Oreal. He is Professor of Marketing at York University's Schulich School of Business, where he is also Chair of the Marketing department.