Overview
Mapping business discovery and advertising patterns reveals the city’s information economy, digital divides, and how hyperlocal businesses compete for attention. This project explores the intersection of online and offline worlds: does someone find a new restaurant through Instagram food bloggers, Google Maps reviews, WhatsApp group recommendations, or simply by walking past and seeing a crowd? How do neighborhood grocers, street food vendors, and informal businesses get discovered when they lack advertising budgets or digital presence?
What Advertising Looks Like
The project extends into examining what advertising actually looks like in Guwahati’s context. Beyond the obvious billboards and social media ads, what role do auto-rickshaw advertising, local newspaper classifieds, FM radio spots, and community event sponsorships play? How effective are these channels for different types of businesses, and what’s actually affordable for small enterprises versus large chains?
The digital dimension raises additional questions about platform dependencies: how vulnerable are small businesses to algorithm changes on Google Maps, food delivery apps, or social media platforms? Which customer segments and business types get left out of online discovery entirely due to digital access barriers?
Why This Matters
Understanding these patterns reveals economic power dynamics and shows what kinds of businesses thrive versus struggle based on their advertising capacity rather than product quality. It exposes the gap between community-driven discovery mechanisms—word of mouth, trusted recommendations, neighborhood networks—and commercial advertising platforms that favor businesses with marketing budgets. Investigating this helps identify opportunities for more equitable business ecosystems where quality and community value matter more than marketing spend.