Narrative inquiry, netnography and interviews: Triangulation in video gaming trade-in

The market for video gaming and consoles is substantial, and yet only a small proportion were traded-in. Trading-in is a sustainable method of disposal because it creates second-hand markets and redistributes goods to other households. A better understanding of the experiences of those who traded-in video games and consoles offered a good starting point for improving and increasing this market. Interpretative qualitative methods were appropriate to gain a better understanding of how gamers understood video games and consoles and their experiences of trading-in. To gain an insight into how trade-in was talked about in a natural setting without researcher intrusion, we began with a complete observation netnography. Observations showed the prevalence of storytelling in this context and for this social group. Increased contextualisation and detail were needed, and therefore, individual detailed accounts were gathered through narrative inquiry, which is well suited to recount personal, subjective experiences, especially given that this social group regularly recounted stories in text online. These hands-off approaches needed follow-up interviews to clarify and confirm researcher interpretations. This triangulated data collection was drawn together through thematic analysis and showed depth, breadth and chronological order. However, no method is without its limitations or shortcomings, and these are discussed.