Poetic witness

Abstract

This article introduces the concept of ‘poetic witness’, a method of performing and presenting research that acknowledges the constellations of multiple objects, emotions and forces that constitute everyday consumption life worlds. This possibility is enabled through methodological processes of poetic transcription and poetic translation, which are applied to data collected during an ethnography of surfing culture. Potential uses for poetic witness in future marketing research are offered. In particular, poetic witness is shown to generate insightful research questions and to widen theoretical agendas for future marketing research.