Company

Startup that sells organic pads and tampons in a buy-one-give-one model

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Techniques

Ethnographic Interviews, Survey, Observation, Journey Mapping, Diary Studies, Word Association Activity

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Tools

Microsoft Excel, Google Forms (survey), Audio Recorder, Camera

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Fun Fact

I later found a similar but larger-scale study that confirmed my findings!

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SUMMARY

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This study was conducted as a part of my Applied Anthropology class. Our final project for the class involved using the research methods we had learned in class to become ethnographic consultants for organizations of our choosing. I chose an alumni-founded startup that sells organic, chemical-free pads and tampons. I chose this company because I wanted to further explore my interests in medical anthropology and consumer products. The company asked me to create a research report with branding and product design recommendations.

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*I cannot present specific findings due to a confidentiality agreement, but I can share the process.

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METHODS

Stakeholder Meeting

Before designing the study, I had a discussion with the founders of the company to determine their goals for the study. They wanted to know what aspects of other menstrual product designs they should incorporate into their own products, whether or not their buy-one-give-one model should figure prominently into their advertising efforts, and, most importantly, how college-aged women at my university understood and experienced their periods and how that influenced their menstrual product purchasing choices.

 

Participant Recruitment

I created a brief survey and disseminated it via social media to identify participants for longer ethnographic interviews.

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Techniques

• Due to the sensitive nature of the subject matter, I made sure to meet participants in places where they were comfortable.

• I conducted ethnographic interviews of approximately one hour, usually focusing on their first period and then creating a timeline of menstrual meaning and exploring what their period means to them now both emotionally and practically. These interviews also involved journey mapping and word association.

• I asked women to complete diary studies during the week of their period and during a non-period week to explore the differences in their decision making and daily habits.

• I followed some participants on shopping trips where they planned to buy menstrual products.

• I asked some women to send me pictures of where their menstrual products were kept in their homes.

• I took and analyzed photos of menstrual product aisles in various local stores, and spent time observing consumer behavior in those aisles.

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Outcomes

I created a research report and presentation detailing my findings and presented it to the client. In my experience, client presentations work best if they function like movie trailers, in that they showcase a few especially exciting insights so that stakeholders will be motivated to read the "feature length" research report. Because of the quality of this report and my other coursework, I was asked to become a teaching assistant for the subsequent year's class.

 

Reflections

This project was my first experience running a project that dealt with a fairly universally taboo subject. As a result, this project helped me to hone my skills in recruiting participants (participant recruitment was quite difficult for this particular study due to the subject matter), making participants feel comfortable enough to share their experiences with me in an honest and unfiltered way, and dealing with participant "shut down" (quick, curt answers, refusing to answer questions, and other ways of trying to "get the interview over with"). I also learned how to tailor my discussions of this project to different audiences so the subject matter seems appropriate and relevant. Overall, I enjoyed the challenge that this project required because it allowed me to incorporate the skills I had learned in my anthropological training.