A remote ethnography methodology to gain packaging behaviour insights

Remote ethnography requires the observation of human interaction in the natural world without the researcher being present. Well-established in industrial and user experience design remote ethnography provides insight into the user's behaviour whilst completing a specific task in a defined environment. Designers in established fields such as Design for Sustainable Behaviour have applied this behavioural understanding to develop interventions to positively adapt unsustainable behaviours. Existing research techniques have evidenced limitations in fully understanding consumer packaging disposal behaviour, with a clear gap in behavioural insights with packaging used out of the home. A novel mixed-methods approach was developed using remote ethnography to explore consumer food-to-go packaging disposal behaviour out of the home, providing insights which could be evaluated for their application within the packaging development process. In explaining the new methodological approach, this paper (a) proposes a mixed-methods approach by which packaging developers can better understand packaging disposal behaviour out of the home, (b) explains this research method in the context of a food-to-go packaging disposal case study and (c) evaluates the value of the mixed-methods approach within the food packaging development process.