Original Articles

‘Dabbling in the market’: Ideas on ‘an anthropology of marketing’

Published in: Anthropology Southern Africa
Volume 31 , issue 1-2 , 2008 , pages: 39–47

DOI: 10.1080/23323256.2008.11499962

Author(s): Stephné Herselman Department of Anthropology and Archaeology,

Keywords: anthropology of marketing , emerging market , South Africa , trust , life assurance industry , culture , stokvel

Download full text Get new issue alerts

Abstract

Contextualised in terms of the phenomenal growth in purchasing power in the so-called ‘emerging market’ in South Africa, this paper considers possibilities for anthropological involvement in market research, and looks at ways in which trust influences buying behaviour in the financial market. Drawing on research in two financial institutions, and taking into account current trends in anthropological endeavour, this presentation considers what role anthropologists might play in market research.

« Anthropologist to activist: Paul Farmer's changing perspectives on cultural difference and human rights

Anthropologies of knowledge and South Africa's Indigenous Knowledge Systems Policy »