Focus Groups

What is a Focus Group?Group of people jointly participate in the interview

– 8-12 people (5-7 becoming more popular size)

– Unstructured/Structured interview– Moderator– Used to define problems, provide

background, form hypotheses

Why Use A Focus Group?

• New Product Development Studies• Positioning Studies• Habits and Usage• Packaging Assessment• Attitude Studies• Advertising/Copy Evaluation• Promotion Evaluation• Idea Generation• Employee Attitude/Motivation Studies

Advantages of Focus Groups

•Group “Think”•Uncover “True” Feelings•Depth of Feelings•Fast•Easy•Relatively Low Cost

Disadvantages of Focus Groups

• Non-Representative of Overall Population

• Additional Data Probably Needed

• Errors Due to Moderator• Sensitive Issues

Responsibilities of the Moderator

• Success of focus group.• Experience, Enthusiasm, Prepared, Involved,

Energetic, and Open-Minded.• Must Have a Discussion Guide (Written outline

of topics to be covered).• Discussion Guide Leads Discussion Through

(1) Establishment of rapport and rules for group interactions,(2) Provocation of intensive discussion, and (3) Summarization of significant

conclusions and testing the limits of belief and commitment.

Activities Before the Focus Group

• Determine Research Objective• Select Moderator• Participants– Number - Time– Screen - Geographic Location– Homogeneous

• Develop Moderator Guide– Introduction - Key Content Section– Warm-up - Summary– Details - Debrief

• Select Facility

Activities at the Focus Group Facility

• Supervise the re-screening of participants

• Use of “Pre” and/or “Post” Survey• Provide food for participants• Manage noise level• Provide name cards for participants• Room Set-up• Debrief the participants

Issues Concerning Focus Groups

• Size• Structure• Composition• Video Taping (Digital

Capture)• Payment

Pricing Issues Related to Focus Groups

• Development of the Discussion Guide• Field Supervision (Facility mgt)

– Meals- Travel– Payment of Subjects - Videotaping – Costs for Facilities - Parking

• Moderating• Transcription• Data Analysis• Report Writing• Report Presentation

Other Qualitative Techniques• Depth Interviews (1 on 1 Interviews) with

consumers may reveal what they are thinking or why they have acted a certain way.

• A depth interview uncovers conscious reasons that interviewees may not disclose without probing questions.

• Griffin and Hauser (Marketing Science 1993) report:(1) 1-to-1 interviews may be more cost-effective than focus groups,(2) that 20-30 interviews are necessary to get 90%-95% of the customer needs, and (3) multiple analysts or team members should read and interpret raw transcripts.

• Protocol Analysis: Requires subjects to “think aloud.”

• Projective Techniques: Here people often divulge something about themselves they would not divulge with direct questioning. Examples include word association, sentence completion, picture, cartoon, or role-playing tests.

Other Qualitative Techniques (May be Useful for Focus

Groups)

• Word Association

• Sentence and Story Completion Tests:

Source: McDaniels & Gates (2002, p. 150)

Other Qualitative Techniques

• Picture Tests: Participants are provided with pictures and then instructed to describe their reactions by writing a short story about the picture. This is a good ways to test potential ads.

• Cartoon orBalloon Tests:

• Role-Playing Activity: Here participants are asked to pretend that they are a “third person,” such as a friend or neighbor, and to describe how they would act in a certain situation or to a specific statement.

Other Projective Techniques

Chevy Volt