The editors’ intention with this e-book was to collect a set of papers which primarily look to the future of observational research in marketing, while remaining in some way cognizant of the rich history of observational research. To the editors, observational research is any research which collects empirical data not by questioning respondents, but by observing behavior and/or other forms of activity. In keeping with this, the papers which make up this special issue do not share a common epistemological or ontological basis, nor should they be expected to. Instead, what binds these papers together is the recognition that direct observation of human activity is a necessary and important methodology, even if it is not often the easiest or most resource-effective.