Marketing researchers commonly use photographic methods to generate observational data and delve into the lived experiences of research participants. These visual data-gathering techniques, however, can be embedded into a broader research methodology aimed to generate constructive social and policy changes. The authors systematically analyze prior empirical studies using photographic methods to identify when these methods are appropriate and most effective. They identify key research processes, workbench issues, and ethical dilemmas when employing transformative photographic methods across individual, group, and community levels of analysis. Finally, they propose best practices for conducting more compelling research.
AndreasenAlan, R. (1975), The Disadvantaged Consumer.New York: The Free Press.
2.
ArnouldEric J., and WallendorfMelanie (1994), “Market-Oriented Ethnography: Interpretation Building and Marketing Strategy Formulation,”Journal of Marketing Research, 31(November), 484–504.
3.
BaderRussell, WanonoRevital, HamdenSami, and SkinnerHarvey A. (2007), “Global Youth Voices: Engaging Bedouin Youth in Health Promotion in the Middle East,”Canadian Journal of Public Health, 98(1), 21–25.
4.
BakerTamara A., and WangCaroline C. (2006), “Photovoice: Use of a Participatory Action Research Method to Explore the Chronic Pain Experience in Older Adults,”Qualitative Health Research, 16(10), 1405–13.
5.
BanksMarcus (2001), Visual Methods in Social Research.London: Sage Publications.
6.
BanksMarcus, and MorphyHoward (1997), Rethinking Visual Anthropology.New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
7.
BarrMary (2009), “The Alchemy of the Photograph,”Visual Studies, 24(1), 66–70.
8.
BeckerHoward, S. (1974), “Photography and Sociology,”Studies in the Anthropology of Visual Communication, 1(1), 3–26.
9.
BeilinRuth (2005), “Photo-Elicitation and the Agricultural Landscape: ‘Seeing’ and ‘Telling’ About Farming, Community and Place,”Visual Studies, 20(1), 56–68.
10.
BelkRussell (2011), “Examining Markets, Marketing, Consumers, and Society Through Documentary Film,”Journal of Macromarketing, 31(4), 403–409.
11.
BelkRussell, and KozinetsRobert V. (2011), “The Last Picture Show,” in Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 38, DahlDarren W., JoharGita V., and van OsselaerStijn M.J., eds. Duluth, MN: Association for Consumer Research.
12.
BelkRussell, JohnF. SherryJr., and WallendorfMelanie (1988), “A Naturalistic Inquiry into Buyer and Seller Behavior at a Swap Meet,”Journal of Consumer Research, 14(4), 449–70.
13.
BellShannon Elizabeth (2008), “Photovoice as a Strategy for Community Organizing in the Central Appalachian Coalfields,”Journal of Appalachian Studies, 14(1-2), 34–48.
14.
BjellandDenise, and Lynn JonesB. (2001), “The Use of Photo Elicitation in Rural China as a Data Collection Method,” paper presented at Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, (accessed October 28, 2011), [available at http://www.aiaee.org/proceedings/127-2001-baton-rouge-louisiana/].
15.
BlackmanAnna (2007), The PhotoVoice Manual: A Guide to Designing and Running Participatory Photography Projects.London: PhotoVoice.
16.
BookerDavid (2003), “Facilitating Participatory Video: India's NGOs,” in Participatory Video: Images That Transform and Empower, WhiteShirley, A., ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 322–44.
17.
BoothTim, and BoothWendy (2003), “In the Frame: Photovoice and Mothers with Learning Difficulties,”Disability & Society, 18(4), 431–42.
18.
BrownCharis, CostleyCarolyn, FriendLorraine, and VareyRichard (2010), “Capturing Their Dream: Video Diaries and Minority Consumers,”Consumption, Markets, & Culture, 13(4), 419–36.
19.
CarnahanChristi, R. (2006), “Photovoice: Engaging Children with Autism and Their Teachers,”Teaching Exceptional Children, 39(2), 44–50.
20.
CastledenHeather, GarvinTheresa, and NationHuu-ay-aht First (2008), “Modifying Photovoice for Community-Based Participatory Indigenous Research,”Social Science & Medicine, 66(6), 1393–1405.
21.
CatalaniCaricia, and MinklerMeredith (2010), “Photovoice: A Review of the Literature in Health and Public Health,”Health Education & Behavior, 37(3), 424–51.
22.
ChaplinLan Nguyen, and JohnDeborah Roedder (2007), “Growing up in a Material World: Age Differences in Materialism in Children and Adolescents,”Journal of Consumer Research, 34(4), 480–93.
23.
ChiltonMariana, RabinowichJenny, CouncilChristina, and BreauxJennifer (2009), “Witnesses to Hunger: Participation Through Photovoice to Ensure the Right to Food,”Health and Human Rights, 11(1), 73–85.
24.
ChowdhuryAtaharul Huq, OdameHelen Hambly, and HauserMichael (2010), “With or Without a Script? Comparing Two Styles of Participatory Video on Enhancing Local Seed Innovation System in Bangladesh,”Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 16(4), 355–71.
25.
CollierJohn (1967), Visual Anthropology: Photography as a Research Method.New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
26.
CollierJohn, and CollierMalcolm (1986), Visual Anthropology: Photography as a Research Tool.Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
27.
CrockerStephen (2003), “The Fogo Process: Participatory Communication in a Globalizing World,” in Participatory Video: Images That Transform and Empower, WhiteShirley, A., ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 122–41.
28.
DouglasKatie, B. (1998), “Seeing as Well as Hearing: Responses to the Use of an Alternative Form of Data Representation in a Study of Students' Environmental Perceptions,” paper presented at Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Miami (November 5–8).
29.
FerréM. Isolina (1987), “Prevention and Control of Violence Through Community Revitalization, Individual Dignity, and Personal Self-Confidence,”Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 494(November), 27–36.
30.
FitzsimonsGráinne M., ChartrandTanya L., and FitzsimonsGavan J. (2008), “Automatic Effects of Brand Exposure on Motivated Behavior: How Apple Makes You ‘Think Different,’”Journal of Consumer Research, 35(1), 21–35.
31.
Foster-FishmanPennie, NowellBranda, DeaconZermarie, NievarM., and McCannPeggy (2005), “Using Methods That Matter: The Impact of Reflection, Dialogue, and Voice,”American Journal of Community Psychology, 36(3), 275–91.
32.
FreirePaulo (1970), Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Myra Bergman Ramos, trans. New York: Continuum.
33.
FreirePaulo (1973), Education for Critical Consciousness.New York: Continuum.
34.
FrithHannah, and HarcourtDiana (2007), “Using Photographs to Capture Women's Experiences of Chemotherapy: Reflecting on the Method,”Qualitative Health Research, 17(10), 1340–50.
35.
GermainRuth (2004), “An Exploratory Study Using Cameras and Talking Mats to Access the Views of Young People with Learning Disabilities on Their Out-of-School Activities,”British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 32(4), 170–74.
36.
GiddensAnthony (1984), The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration.Berkeley: University of California Press.
37.
GloorDaniela, and MeierHanna (2000), “A River Revitalization: Seen Through the Lens of Local Community Members,”Visual Sociology, 15(1), 119–34.
38.
GodelMargaret (2007), “Images of Stillbirth: Memory, Mourning and Memorial,”Visual Studies, 22(3), 253–69.
39.
GoodhartFern Walter, HsuJoanne, BaekJi H., ColemanAdrienne L., MarescaFrancesca M., and MillerMarilyn B. (2006), “A View Through a Different Lens: Photovoice as a Tool for Student Advocacy,”Journal of American College Health, 55(1), 53–56.
40.
HaqueNasim, and EngBrian (2011), “Tackling Inequity Through a Photovoice Project on the Social Determinants of Health: Translating Photovoice Evidence to Community Action,”Global Health Promotion, 18(1), 16–19.
41.
HeisleyDeborah D., and LevySidney J. (1991), “Autodriving: A Photoelicitation Technique,”Journal of Consumer Research, 18(3), 257–72.
42.
HergenratherKenneth C., RhodesScott D., and ClarkGlenn (2006), “Windows to Work: Exploring Employment–Seeking Behaviors of Persons with HIV/AIDS Through Photovoice,”AIDS Education & Prevention, 18(3), 243–58.
43.
HergenratherKenneth C., RhodesScott D., CowanChris A., BardhoshiGerta, and PulaSara (2009), “Photovoice as Community-Based Participatory Research: A Qualitative Review,”American Journal of Health Behavior, 33(6), 686–98.
44.
HernándezJesús René Luna (2009), “Photo-Ethnography by People Living in Poverty Near the Northern Border of Mexico,”Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 10(2), (accessed October 31, 2011), [available at http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1310].
HillRonald Paul (2007), “Journal of Public Policy & Marketing Scholarship: Changing the World One Article at a Time,”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 26(Spring), 1–3.
47.
HillRonald Paul, HirschmanElizabeth C., and BaumanJohn F. (1997), “Consumer Survival During the Great Depression: Reports from the Field,”Journal of Macromarketing, 17(1), 107–127.
48.
HillRonald Paul, and StameyMark (1990), “The Homeless in America: An Examination of Possessions and Consumption Behaviors,”Journal of Consumer Research, 17(3), 303–321.
49.
HockeyJohn, and CollinsonJacquelyn Allen (2006), “Seeing the Way: Visual Sociology and the Distance Runner's Perspective,”Visual Studies, 21(1), 70–81.
50.
HolbrookMorris, B. (2006), “Consumption Experience, Customer Value, and Subjective Personal Introspection: An Illustrative Photographic Essay,”Journal of Business Research, 59(6), 714–25.
51.
HolbrookMorris B., and KuwaharaTakeo (1998), “Collective Stereographic Photo Essays: An Integrated Approach to Probing Consumption Experiences in Depth,”International Journal of Research in Marketing, 15(July), 201–221.
52.
HolbrookMorris B., StephensDebra Lynn, DayEllen, HolbrookSarah M., and StrazarGregor (2001), “A Collective Stereographic Photo Essay on Key Aspects of Animal Companionship: The Truth About Dogs and Cats,”Academy of Marketing Science Review, [available at http://www.amsreview.org/articles/holbrook012001.pdf].
53.
HollidayRuth (2000), “We've Been Framed: Visualizing Methodology,”Sociological Review, 48(4), 503–522.
54.
HowardPhilip N., and HussainMuzammil M. (2011), “The Role of Digital Media,”Journal of Democracy, 22(3), 35–48.
JoanouJamie, P. (2009), “The Bad and the Ugly: Ethical Concerns in Participatory Photographic Methods with Children Living and Working on the Streets of Lima, Peru,”Visual Studies, 24(3), 214–23.
57.
JurkowskiJanine M., and Paul-WardAmy (2007), “Photovoice with Vulnerable Populations: Addressing Disparities in Health Promotion Among People with Intellectual Disabilities,”Health Promotion Practice, 8(4), 358–65.
58.
KamaraSallieu, and SwarrayAbdul (2011), “Kenema Youth Change Lives and Perceptions with Participatory Video in Sierra Leone,”Participatory Learning and Action, 64, 55–64.
59.
KarlssonJenni (2001), “Doing Visual Research with School Learners in South Africa,”Visual Sociology, 16(2), 23–37.
60.
Kaufman-ScarboroughCarol (1999), “Reasonable Access for Mobility-Disabled Persons Is More Than Widening the Door,”Journal of Retailing, 75(4), 479–508.
61.
KeesJeremy, BurtonScot, Craig AndrewsJ., and KozupJohn (2010), “Understanding How Graphic Pictorial Warnings Work on Cigarette Packaging,”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 29(Fall), 265–76.
62.
KindonSara (2003), “Participatory Video in Geographic Research: A Feminist Practice of Looking?”Area, 35(2), 142–53.
63.
KjeldgaardDannie, and AskegaardSøren (2006), “The Globalization of Youth Culture: The Global Youth Segment as Structures of Common Difference,”Journal of Consumer Research, 33(2), 231–47.
KramerLeila, SchwartzPamela, CheadleAllen, Elaine BortonJ., WrightMerrick, ChaseCharlie, and LindleyCorina (2010), “Promoting Policy and Environmental Change Using Photovoice in the Kaiser Permanente Community Health Initiative,”Health Promotion Practice, 11(3), 332–39.
LópezEllen D.S., EngEugenia, Randall-DavidElizabeth, and RobinsonNaomi (2005), “Quality-of-Life Concerns of African American Breast Cancer Survivors Within Rural North Carolina: Blending the Techniques of Photovoice and Grounded Theory,”Qualitative Health Research, 15(1), 99–115.
68.
LópezEllen D.S., EngEugenia, RobinsonNaomi, and WangCaroline C (2005), “Photovoice as a Community-Based Participatory Research Method: A Case Study with African American Breast Cancer Survivors in Rural Eastern North Carolina,” in Methods for Conducting Community-Based Participatory Research for Health, IsraelBarbara A., EngEugenia, SchulzAmy J., and ParkerEdith A., eds. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 326–48.
69.
LunchChris (2004), “Participatory Video: Rural People Document Their Knowledge and Innovations,”IK Notes, (71, August), [available at www.worldbank.org/afr/ik/iknotes.htm].
McGrathMary Ann, JohnF. SherryJr., and LevySidney J. (1993), “Giving Voice to the Gift: The Use of Projective Techniques to Recover Lost Meanings,”Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2(2), 171–91.
MenterHarriet, RoaMaria Cecilia, BecceraOmar Felipe, RoaClara, and CeleminWilson (2006), “Using Participatory Video to Develop Youth Leadership Skills in Columbia,”Participatory Learning and Action, 55(December), 107–114.
74.
MickDavid Glen, PettigrewSimone, PechmannCornelia, and OzanneJulie L., eds. (2012), Transformative Consumer Research for Personal and Collective Well Being.New York: Routledge.
75.
MizenPhil (2005), “A Little ‘Light Work’? Children's Images of Their Labour,”Visual Studies, 20(2), 124–39.
76.
MohantyChandra Talpade (2003), Feminism Without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity.Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
MooreGemma, CroxfordBen, AdamsMags, RefaeeMohamed, CoxTrevor, and SharplesSteve (2008), “The Photo-Survey Research Method: Capturing Life in the City,”Visual Studies, 23(1), 50–62.
79.
NechelesJonathan W., ChungEmily Q., Hawes-DawsonJennifer, RyanGery Wayne, WilliamsLa'shield B., HolmesHeidi N. (2007), “The Teen Photovoice Project: A Pilot Study to Promote Health Through Advocacy,”Progress in Community Health Partnerships (NIH-PA Author Manuscript), 1(3), 221–29 (1–13).
80.
NewmanSusan, D. (2010), “Evidence-Based Advocacy: Using Photovoice to Identify Barriers and Facilitators to Community Participation After Spinal Cord Injury,”Rehabilitation Nursing, 35(2), 47–59.
81.
NimmonLaura, E. (2007), “Within the Eyes of the People: Using a Photonovel as a Consciousness-Raising Health Literacy Tool with ESL-Speaking Immigrant Women,”Canadian Journal of Public Health, 98(4), 337–40.
82.
NowellBranda L., BerkowitzShelby L., DeaconZermarie, and Foster-FishmanPennie (2006), “Revealing the Cues Within Community Places: Stories of Identity, History, and Possibility,”American Journal of Community Psychology, 37(1/2), 29–46.
83.
OliffeJohn L., BottorffJoan L., KellyMary T., and HalpinMichael (2008), “Analyzing Participant Produced Photographs from an Ethnographic Study of Fatherhood and Smoking,”Research in Nursing & Health, 31(5), 529–39.
84.
OzanneJulie, L. (2011), “Introduction to the Special Issue on Transformative Consumer Research: Creating Dialogical Spaces for Policy and Action Research,”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 30(Spring), 1–4.
85.
OzanneJulie L., and AndersonLaurel (2010), “Community Action Research,”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 29(Spring), 123–37.
86.
PackardJosh (2008), “‘I'm Gonna Show You What It's Really Like Out Here': The Power and Limitation of Participatory Visual Methods,”Visual Studies, 23(1), 63–77.
87.
PattonJason, W. (2004), “Multiple Worlds on Oakland's Streets Social Practice and the Built Environment,”Visual Anthropology Review, 20(2), 36–56.
88.
PonzettiJames J.Jr. (2003), “Growing Old in Rural Communities: A Visual Methodology for Studying Place Attachment,”Journal of Rural Community Psychology, E6 (1), [available at http://www.marshall.edu/jrcp/E6one_Ponzetti.htm].
89.
ProsserJon (2007), “Visual Mediation of Critical Illness: An Autobiographical Account of Nearly Dying and Nearly Living,”Visual Studies, 22(2), 185–99.
90.
ProsserJon, and LoxleyAndrew (2008), “Introducing Visual Methods,” working paper, National Centre for Research Methods.
91.
PunchSamantha (2002), “Research with Children: The Same or Different from Research with Adults?”Childhood, 9(3), 321–41.
92.
RadleyAlan, ChamberlainKerry, HodgettsDarrin, StolteOttilie, and GrootShiloh (2010), “From Means to Occasion: Walking in the Life of Homeless People,”Visual Studies, 25(1), 36–45.
93.
ReinharzShulamit (1992), Feminist Methods in Social Research.New York: Oxford University Press.
94.
RhodesScott D., and HergenratherKenneth C. (2007), “Recently Arrived Immigrant Latino Men Identify Community Approaches to Promote HIV Prevention,”American Journal of Public Health, 97(6), 984–85.
95.
RhodesScott D., HergenratherKenneth C., WilkinAimee M., and JollyChristine (2008), “Visions and Voices: Indigent Persons Living with HIV in the Southern United States Use Photovoice to Create Knowledge, Develop Partnerships, and Take Action,”Health Promotion Practice, 9(2), 159–69.
96.
RichMichael, LamolaSteven, and WoodsElizabeth R. (2006), “Effects of Creating Visual Illness Narratives on Quality of Life with Asthma: A Pilot Intervention Study,”Journal of Adolescent Health, 38(6), 748–52.
97.
SchwartzLisa R., SableMarjorie R., DannerbeckAnne, and CampbellJames (2007), “Using Photovoice to Improve Family Planning Services for Immigrant Hispanics,”Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 18(4), 757–66.
98.
SeidlBarbara (2003), “Candid Thoughts on the Not-So-Candid Camera: How Video Radically Alters Development Projects,” in Participatory Video: Images That Transform and Empower, WhiteShirley, A., ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 157–94.
99.
SheaJennifer. (2009), “Through Their Eyes: Perceptions and Realities of Body Weight in Female First Nation Youth in Saskatchewan,” paper presented at Feminist Research Methods, Stockholm University, Sweden (February 4–6).
100.
SinghalArvind, HarterLynn M., ChitnisKetan, and SharmaDevendra (2007), “Participatory Photography as Theory, Method and Praxis: Analyzing an Entertainment-Education Project in India,”Critical Arts: A South-North Journal of Cultural & Media Studies, 21(1), 212–27.
101.
SingletonGuy, Rola-RubzenMaria, MuirKado, MuirDeeva, and McGregorMurray (2009), “Youth Empowerment and Information and Communication Technologies: A Case Study of a Remote Australian Aboriginal Community,”GeoJournal, 74(5), 403–413.
102.
StrackRobert W., LovelaceKay A., JordanToshia Davis, and HolmesAnita P. (2010), “Framing Photovoice Using a Social-Ecological Logic Model as a Guide,”Health Promotion Practice, 11(5), 629–36.
103.
StrackRobert W., MagillCathleen, and McDonaghKara (2004), “Engaging Youth Through Photovoice,”Health Promotion Practice, 5(1), 49–58.
104.
ThompsonCraig, J. (1997), “Interpreting Consumers: A Hermeneutical Framework for Deriving Marketing Insights from the Texts of Consumers' Consumption Stories,”Journal of Marketing Research, 34(November), 438–55.
105.
ViswanathanMadhubalan, HastakManoj, and GauRoland (2009), “Understanding and Facilitating the Usage of Nutritional Labels by Low-Literate Consumers,”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 28(Fall), 135–45.
106.
WallendorfMelanie, and ArnouldEric J. (1991), “‘We Gather Together': Consumption Rituals of Thanksgiving Day,”Journal of Consumer Research, 18(1), 13–31.
107.
WangCaroline C., AndersonRobert M., and SternDavid T. (2004), “Exploring Professional Values and Health Policy Through Photovoice,”Medical Education, 38(11), 1190–91.
108.
WangCaroline C., and BurrisMary Ann (1997), “Photovoice: Concept, Methodology, and Use for Participatory Needs Assessment,”Health Education & Behavior, 24(3), 369–87.
109.
WangCaroline C., and BurrisMary Ann, and PingXiang Yue (1996), “Chinese Village Women as Visual Anthropologists: A Participatory Approach to Reaching Policymakers,”Social Science & Medicine, 42(10), 1391–1400.
110.
WangCaroline C., CashJennifer L., and PowersLisa S. (2000), “Who Knows the Streets as Well as the Homeless? Promoting Personal and Community Action Through Photovoice,”Health Promotion Practice, 1(1), 81–89.
111.
WangCaroline C., Morrel-SamuelsSusan, HutchisonPeter M., BellLee, and PestronkRobert M. (2004), “Flint Photovoice: Community Building Among Youths, Adults, and Policymakers,”American Journal of Public Health, 94(6), 911–13.
112.
WangCaroline C., and PiesCheri A. (2004), “Family, Maternal, and Child Health Through Photovoice,”Maternal and Child Health Journal, 8(2), 95–102.
113.
WangCaroline C., and Redwood-JonesYanique A. (2001), “Photovoice Ethics: Perspectives from Flint Photovoice,”Health Education & Behavior, 28(5), 560–72.
114.
WansinkBrian (2012), “Activism Research: Designing Transformative Lab and Field Studies,” in Transformative Consumer Research for Personal and Collective Well-Being, MickDavid Glen, PettigrewSimone, PechmannCornelia, and OzanneJulie L., eds. New York: Routledge Academic, 67–88.
115.
WarrenSamantha (2005), “Photography and Voice in Critical Qualitative Management Research,”Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 18(6), 861–82.
116.
WhiteShirley, A., ed. (2003), Participatory Video: Images That Transform and Empower.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
117.
WiersmaElaine, C. (2011), “Using Photovoice with People with Early-Stage Alzheimer's Disease: A Discussion of Methodology,”Dementia, 10(2), 203–216.
118.
WilcoxWhitney (2009), “Digital Storytelling: A Comparative Case Study in Three Northern California Communities,” master's thesis, Department of Community Development, University of California, Davis.
119.
WilliamsJoan, and Brinton LykesM. (2003), “Bridging Theory and Practice: Using Reflexive Cycles in Feminist Participatory Action Research,”Feminism Psychology, 13(3), 287–94.
120.
Woodley-BakerRochelle (2009), “Private and Public Experience Captured: Young Women Capture Their Everyday Lives and Dreams Through Photo-Narratives,”Visual Studies, 24(1), 19–35.
121.
WoolfSteven, H. (2008), “The Meaning of Translational Research and Why It Matters,”Journal of the American Medical Association, 299(2), 211–13.
122.
YamashitaSampei (2002), “Perception and Evaluation of Water in Landscape: Use of Photo-Projective Method to Compare Child and Adult Residents' Perceptions of a Japanese River Environment,”Landscape and Urban Planning, 62(1), 3–17.
123.
ZaltmanGerald, and CoulterRobie Higie (1995), “Seeing the Voice of the Customer: Metaphor-Based Advertising Research,”Journal of Advertising Research, 35(4), 35–51.
124.
ZillerRobert, C. (1990), Photographing the Self: Methods for Observing Personal Orientations.Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
