Knowhow: Staying Focused | When and how to use focus groups successfully
Perhaps you’ve heard of focus groups but aren’t quite sure what they are or how they work. Focus groups are a small sample size of a particular demographic (usually a customer or client) that provide companies or organizations with their opinions about a certain topic. They help companies understand the reasons behind the customers’ or prospects’ decisions.
Focus groups generally consist of eight to 10 respondents that are screened to ensure they meet certain pre-determined criteria. The criteria will differ for each group, depending upon the objectives of the study. For example, a health insurance company that is experiencing a drop in its plan’s membership might hold a focus group with members who recently switched to a competitor’s plan. This may provide insight into the competitor’s appeal and also provide an understanding of where the dissatisfaction is coming from with their own plan.
When To Use A Focus Group
Focus groups are held around a wide variety of consumer and business related topics, ranging from new product or concept testing to marketing communications, packaging and pricing.
A large bank that is planning to acquire a smaller community bank will likely use a focus group to determine how many of the community bank’s customers will remain customers after the acquisition.
A startup company with plans to offer business products and services tailored to small- and medium-sized businesses also will likely use a focus group to determine which products and services stir up the greatest interest, what the startup would need to do to entice prospective clients to switch from their current vendor and the best ways to market the new services to be offered.
Making Them Work
Focus groups are led by a moderator who guides the group through an informal discussion that addresses the issues facing the client company. Generally groups meet for an hour and a half to two hours in a focus group facility, which is equipped with a one way mirror that enables the company or organization to view the discussion live.
Ideally, focus groups are held in conjunction with quantitative market research. Since respondents in focus groups are not a representative sample of the population from whom companies seek answers, quantitative market research is critical. Focus groups can also be held prior to quantitative research to help identify the critical issues as well as the scope of the responses to be addressed in the quantitative questionnaire. When held after a quantitative study, focus groups are used to explore and explain puzzling results.
Things To Keep In Mind
When deciding whether or not to use a focus group, remember that they can help in the following circumstances:
• When you have unanswered marketing questions about product, package price or distribution and you are looking for a strategic direction
• To learn the rationale of customer behavior
• To solicit new ideas
Conversely, it’s important to remember to not use focus groups to find a definitive answer for marketing questions or statistical results. Use quantitative studies, instead. Also, use in-depth interviews — not focus groups — when constructing a specific advertising concept.
Candace Mandel is president of Market Insights, a Sudbury company specializing in qualitative market research. She can be reached a cmandel@mkt-insights.com.
WBJ Web Partners
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