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Chapter 19 - Method Contestations in Marketography: From ‘Fly on the Wall’ to Methods ‘on the Fly’

from Part V - The Secret Life of Market Studies Methods

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2024

By
Thomas Jalili Tanha
Edited by
Susi Geiger ,
Katy Mason ,
Neil Pollock ,
Philip Roscoe ,
Annmarie Ryan ,
Stefan Schwarzkopf  and
Pascale Trompette
Susi Geiger
Affiliation:
University College Dublin
Katy Mason
Affiliation:
Lancaster University
Neil Pollock
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh
Philip Roscoe
Affiliation:
University of St Andrews, Scotland
Annmarie Ryan
Affiliation:
University of Limerick
Stefan Schwarzkopf
Affiliation:
Copenhagen Business School
Pascale Trompette
Affiliation:
Université de Grenoble
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Summary

Marketographies – market ethnographies – are rooted in the actor-network theory tradition of ‘following the actor’, emphasizing descriptive methods that should be carried out like ‘a fly on the wall’ (Latour 2005, 136). By understanding the valuation and social life of methods in Market Studies, this chapter uncovers how Market Studies can require scholars to re-evaluate and switch gears from being ‘a fly on the wall’ to enacting different methods ‘on the fly.’ Extant Market Studies have been slow to acknowledge the dynamics of methods. In calling for such acknowledgments in Market Studies writing, I conceptualise methods ‘on the fly’ to highlight how methods contest, and are contested by the field, theory, and research questions. In doing so, I highlight the value of adapting Market Studies methods to capture elusive market practices in a messy and ever-changing world and its impact on producing relevant questions, theories, and market action.

Keywords

marketographymessy methodsperformativitymethods on the flymarket studies methodsmarket practicesmarket dynamics
Type
Chapter
Information
Market Studies
Mapping, Theorizing and Impacting Market Action
 , pp. 319 - 331
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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