ABSTRACT

Obtaining insights on the illicit consumption of endangered wildlife products is challenging, especially when the study objects are the super-rich. This research note draws upon my experience interviewing nearly 1,000 rhino horn consumers in Vietnam. Trust is crucial in such interactions. No interviews could have been conducted without good rapport between interviewers and respondents. Nonetheless, soliciting interviews requires skills that one cannot expect to teach enumerators in the short term. This includes a winning sense of humour, colourful life experience, and true grit. Once good rapport is established, the use of specialised questionning techniques or bias-mitigation tools becomes unnecessary. Instead I suggest a practical approach to study consumers of illegal and luxury wildlife products in an Asian context.

摘要

获取有关非法消费濒危野生动物产品的见解具有挑战性，尤其是当研究对象是超级富豪时。这份研究报告借鉴了我采访越南近 1,000 名犀牛角消费者的经验。信任在这种互动中至关重要。如果采访者和受访者之间没有良好的关系，就不可能进行采访。尽管如此，邀请采访需要的技能是短期内无法教给普查员的。这包括成功的幽默感、丰富多彩的生活体验和真正的勇气。一旦建立了良好的关系，就不需要使用专门的提问技术或减轻偏见的工具。相反，我建议采用一种实用的方法来研究亚洲背景下非法和奢侈野生动物产品的消费者。