Netnography is an adaptation of ethnography for the online world, pioneered by Robert Kozinets, and is concerned with the study of online cultures and communities as distinct social phenomena, rather than isolated content. In this landmark third edition, Netnography: The Essential Guide provides the theoretical and methodological groundwork as well as the practical applications, helping students both understand and do netnographic research projects of their own.

Packed with enhanced learning features throughout, linking concepts to structured activities in a step by step way, the book is also now accompanied by a striking new visual design and further case studies, offering the essential student resource to conducting online ethnographic research. Real world examples provided demonstrate netnography in practice across the social sciences, in media and cultural studies, anthropology, education, nursing, travel and tourism, and others.

Robert V. Kozinets is a globally recognized expert on social media, marketing, branding and innovation. Besides inventing netnography, he has authored and co-authored over 100 pieces of research on the intersection of technology, media, brands, and consumers.

Robert V. Kozinets has developed social media research methods that are widely used in universities and companies around the world. In 1995, in study of activism and media fan community, he invented netnography. Since that time, he has been refining the approach and applying it to gain a deeper understanding of our current social and communication landscape. Asking questions about technology, commodification, utopia, and desire, his research pushed disciplinary boundaries to open up a more integrative, cultural, moral, and passionate form of studying and theorizing emerging social media ecosystems. He currently holds the Jayne and Hans Hufschmid Chair of Cultural Social Media Research at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.