Taking ‘Things’ seriously: postphenomenology and object-centred methods for consumer and marketing research

Purpose Despite the centrality of objects in consumption, they are often invisible at a methodological level in qualitative consumer and marketing research. This has resulted in overdependence on participants’ recalled lived experiences, thus limiting the depth and scope of elicited narratives. This paper aims to discuss object-centred methods, an alternative approach based on postphenomenological principles, which treats objects as key research components and explores their potential to generate rich qualitative data that would otherwise be difficult to obtain. Design/methodology/approach This paper maps the ontological orientations underpinning how objects are understood and researched. It synthesises insights from marketing and other disciplines, offering methodological clarity for consumer and marketing researchers. Findings Firstly, the authors map and appraise the usage of objects in consumer research. Secondly, the authors discuss object-centred interviews and object-centred ethnographies, providing practical advice for data collection. Thirdly, postphenomenological data interpretation and analysis strategies, with particular focus on material hermeneutics and variational cross-analysis, are explained. Originality/value The authors introduce postphenomenology as an analytical lens for unveiling objects’ agency and mediative capacities. The authors offer guidance for researching with objects (i.e. object-centred interviewing, object-centred ethnography), where objects are recognised as active mediators in human-world relations, thus shaping perceptions, understanding and action. The authors propose tools that can unearth richer narratives of lived experiences and objects’ roles in shaping and facilitating consumption. Attentiveness to objects throughout the research process can stimulate novel theorisations, which advance marketing theory across a wide range of areas, such as consumer-object relations, modes of consumption, and sustainability.