Researching with discomfort: using affective research methodologies to construct knowledge about marginalised groups

Abstract

Despite emerging interest in the emotional dimensions of fieldwork and theory, affective research methodologies–which interrogate the role of emotions in knowledge production–remain underexplored in marketing research. In this paper, we introduce affective research methodologies and illustrate how this approach allowed us to produce situated knowledge about a marginalised consumer group as outsider researchers. By interpreting reflexive data from research diaries and fieldnotes, we trace the affective flows emerging from research encounters at different stages of an exploratory study, demonstrating their epistemic value for knowledge production and theory-making. We demonstrate how affects, particularly discomfort, can direct the refinement of methods, questioning power dynamics and challenging disciplinary and institutional limits. We contribute to the affective turn in marketing and the advancement of inclusive research methodologies.