The Scoop on Focus Groups

I held a focus group for a client researching a new business model recently. The experience reminded me just how much misinformation exists about this handy market research tool. So, I thought it would be worth a quick blog post to share more balanced information with the world.

Focus groups are one of the most misused market research methods. First and foremost, many people have strong fears that the respondents will lie or subconsciously share false views. It can happen, but it's not a huge issue. Most clients want focus groups to yield hard data, but that's not what they are designed for. A lot of people don't even consider a focus group because they assume it will cost ten thousand dollars. Again, it's possible to host a very productive focus group without breaking the bank.

So, what are focus groups?

Focus groups are a type of qualitative research. Qualitative research gathers in-depth responses from a few people as opposed to quantitative research which gathers large amounts of projectable data from many respondents.

Qualitative research lets an interviewer interact with a few people at length, which is great for asking questions and then probing the answers. For example, a focus group can gather far more detailed and complex information on a new package design than a survey. The survey will only tell you that X% of people like the new design, X% of people hate it, and X% are neutral. Good to know... but if lots of respondents hate the new package how do you know what to fix?

That's where focus groups are fantastic. In a focus group you can discover exactly why package A is liked more than package B? Which features are eye-catching, and why? Which colors or design elements are important, and why? And so on. By asking these types of probing questions you can get a clear sense of the opinions of your target consumer. It's not statistical and you can't lay it out neatly on a graph, but it allows you to define objections and refine specific features and concepts.

Focus groups can help you avoid huge market blunders. We all remember certain key stories of a company responding to a huge blind survey by changing their name or logo only to be greeted with outcries of 'foul' by their core customers. Hosting a few focus groups could have helped those companies truly understand where there was push back and what elements of their brand they should have left alone. Rather than guessing or basing decisions solely on gut instinct, focus groups let you see into the mind of your audience and leverage their knowledge.

WHEN ARE FOCUS GROUPS HELPFUL?

Focus groups can give you guidance and information on a wide range of business concepts, product and/or service issues and brand criteria, including:

• Reactions to ideas for new businesses, products and services - and reactions to prototypes or mock-ups of ideas in development.
• Perceptions of a particular brand or product. Focus groups let you measure overall feelings about problems or benefits, and understand views about reliability, pricing, quality, cool-factor, etc. You can also get a sense of how your brand is perceived compared to its key competitors.
• Reactions to advertisements and promotions. Using focus groups to assess responses to television ads, radio spots, direct mail offerings, print ads, etc.
• Reactions to point-of-purchase experiences and merchandising.

WHEN ARE FOCUS GROUPS NOT HELPFUL?

Focus groups cannot yield specific data (i.e. percentages of consumers who like a perfume, or who consider long-term durability important in a weed-eater). You simply can’t project the views of ten people onto a massive target audience. However, the results of focus groups can be excellent help in crafting surveys or identifying important issues to look at more closely.

SETTING UP A FOCUS GROUP

A typical focus group has 6 - 10 people in it.

1. Meet with a moderator and agree on objectives for the focus group(s), and on exactly what results you want and how will you use them.  Understanding the actions you will take based on the results is key. Those objectives will shape the methods used, issues explored, and types of participants interviewed.
2. Next, create specifications for the people you wish to include in the group(s), and for the locations to conduct your group(s). For instance, you may want to find users of a specific product or category, or users of a particular brand, or fans of a particular activity in a specific metro area.  It all depends on the results you want to discover and what you will do with that information.
3. Work with the moderator to map out a discussion guide which they will use during the group(s) containing all the key issues you want discussed. Also discuss how certain responses might need to be probed to gather more in-depth feedback on critical points.
4. Find a focus group facility.  There are many good ones that will recruit respondents that meet your specifications, and will host the groups on the dates and times chosen. Groups are audio taped or video taped, and you can typically watch from behind a mirrored wall to observe the session.  You can certainly host your own group, but it's best to meet at a neutral location and allow the moderator to control the interactions with you out of the picture.

LEARNING BEYOND LISTENING

It's great to hear what consumers say, but it's just as important to read between the lines.  Real insight is not easy, but here are some suggestions to help you make wise observations at focus groups:

• Observe facial expressions, hand movements and body language.  Respondents don't typically intend to lead you astray in a focus group, but they have the same tendency we all do to make promises and get caught up in the moment.  Look to see if respondents look bored, if they show true emotion behind comments, if they frown in confusion or twitch their hands with uncertainty.  The body and face can count for more than actual spoken words.  Watch respondents all the way through the session and even as they leave the room.  After the videotape stops running you can learn a lot by people's body language and small talk as they walk away.
• Push respondents to get at the truth.  Humans are herd animals and we tend to follow in a group situation.  If all of the participants in a group say they want to buy what you're selling, someone might be going with the flow, but not experience true excitement about the product. Near-unanimous consensus is extremely rare.  Make certain your moderator challenges both positive and negative reactions and does what they can to uncover the reasons behind those reactions. 
• Trust your instinct.  Even though the entire point of a focus group is to listen to consumers, you also have to weigh what they say on the scales of your own instinct.  If what the focus group reveals is blatantly counter to everything else you've experienced in the marketplace, you may need to reassess.  Here's a good example... if everyone in the US changed their oil at exactly 3,000 miles (which everyone would WANT to claim when pressed) the size of the oil change category would be double in size.  Intentions are good, but are often counter to reality.  By challenging assertions you'll get closer to the truth.

HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?

Everyone wants to know exactly what a focus group will cost (and many marketing experts will try to throw figures out) but it truly varies from group to group.  Experienced moderators cost money.  Fancy facilities that organize everything for you cost money.  I've seen focus groups cost over $7,000, but I've also helped clients host a focus group for less than $1,000.  If you have to pay respondents, that adds to the costs...  If you have to pay extra for documentation and taping of the sessions, that adds to the cost...  Urban locations will generally have higher costs than rural areas...  There are so many factors at play that I can only tell you the areas to examine to tally your total expense.