ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies three venues or ways in which a consumer gets exposed to a firm's products or services. Global business has been exposed to anthropology and its methodological cousin, ethnography. Anthropological contributions to consumer behavior, marketing, and advertising began in the 1940s. The chapter begins by examining the interface between organizational activity and its potential consumers. It explains how consumers connect with or are connected with businesses. Despite the start- and-stop quality to anthropological contributions to business during the middle decades of the twentieth century, consumer anthropology, advertising anthropology, and design anthropology have taken an increasingly firm grip since then. Many a marketing specialist or sales associate has learned about consumer reactions whether through intercept interviews (i.e., brief discussions with shoppers while they are shopping) or through assistance provided to the shopper. Collaboration is a powerful force in today's world and is particularly evident in global business.
