Context-Based Research Group Follows Up Definitive 9/11/01 Research
With Fresh Insights and Implications for Business, Industry and Media
BALTIMORE, Sept. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- How many times in the past year have
you heard or started a sentence with "Ever since 9/11 ..."?
You're not alone. It's all part of the `New Normal,' a phrase that too
has become an increasingly common part of American conversation "ever since
9/11." But what exactly is life like in the `New Normal'?
Context-Based Research Group, an ethnographic research firm, and Carton
Donofrio Partners, a marketing communications firm, were uniquely positioned
to find out. Immediately following the catastrophic terrorist attacks of last
year, Context conducted an ethnographic study of the impact of 9/11 on
people's lives. It found people seeking refuge in family, searching for
deeper meaning, finding solace in "small things," looking for spiritual
answers and embracing the sanctity of life -- all enveloped in a new critical
consciousness about who they are in today's world.
One year later, the Context team of anthropologists went back to the
original participants from their initial study, to see how their perceptions
and attitudes had evolved and adapted in the months since the terrorist
attacks.
The results, chronicled in "The New Normal: Portrait of Today's Consumer,"
(http://www.contextresearch.com/context/study.cfm) reveal numerous insights on the
current American psyche, with several important messages for the worlds of
business and media:
-- The 'New Normal' Genuinely Exists -- People have not returned to their
pre-9/11 feelings. They have redefined what is normal in their lives
and accepted that things will not return to what they were.
-- Everything is Connected -- People respond to 9/11 not as a single
event, but as part of a new reality that connects many events and
experiences since 9/11, including corporate scandals and the economic
downturn.
-- A Certainty of Uncertainty -- People express the certainty that another
attack will happen. But they're uncertain as to what it will be and
what it will bring.
-- The Search For Meaning in the Now -- People today celebrate living in
the present in a world where tomorrow is unclear. They feel an
enhanced appreciation for day-to-day, family and simple pleasures.
-- New Patriots and Raised Global Awareness -- Americans have undergone an
intensive examination of who they are and how they and their country
fit in the world. This role is new for many and needs nurturing.
"When you first talk with people, you hear them say that everything has
returned to normal," says Robbie Blinkoff, Ph.D., principal anthropologist at
Context-Based Research Group. "But the moment you scratch below the surface,
when you chronicle the actual behavior in their lives, of course you find out
that is not true."
Blinkoff says that by merely listening to what people say and not learning
about what they actually do, it is easy for companies to fall into a "business
as usual" mind set. But businesses should think carefully about their behavior
and its potential repercussions.
"Because the surface message people communicate is one of normalcy, it's
too easy to unintentionally deliver a message to consumers as a company or say
something to employees that can trigger a volatile reaction in an individual,
a corporate structure, or the media," Blinkoff says. "You have to always
remain cognizant that we are in a different time."
The Context study notes the business implications of its findings
throughout, and makes a series of recommendations to understand, appreciate
and deftly negotiate the nuance and complexity of these new times.
A copy of the report is available at
http://www.contextresearch.com/context/study.cfm or can be sent upon request by
calling Tom Siebert at 410-223-3528. Dr. Robbie Blinkoff can be scheduled for
media interviews through calling the same number.
About Context-Based Research Company
Context, a business unit of Baltimore marketing communications agency
Carton Donofrio Partners, is the world's leading ethnographic research
company. It helps clients learn the truth about what customers actually do,
not what they say they do. Context employs a global network of more than
3,500 anthropologists, who work as cultural insiders in their native culture
and language and observe people's day-to-day experiences at home, work and
play. Context clients include Fortune 500 Companies like Adobe, American
Express, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Campbell Soup Company, Eastman-Kodak, Fisher-
Price, Guinness, Johns Hopkins University, Procter & Gamble and Microsoft.
About Robbie Blinkoff, Ph.D.
Robbie holds a Doctorate in anthropology from Rutgers University. He is
an accomplished speaker and teacher, whose insights into consumer behavior
have appeared in Newsweek, The New York Times, The Atlanta Journal-
Constitution, The Los Angeles Times, American Demographics and elsewhere. He
is a frequent television and radio guest, most recently appearing on the CBS
Early Show, as an expert on consumer behavior.
SOURCE Context-Based Research Company
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Related links:
http://www.contextresearch.com/context/study.cfm
http://www.contextresearch.com
CONTACT:
Tom Siebert, +1-410-223-3528, or
tsiebert@cartondonofrio.com, for Context-Based Research Company
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