Focus Groups

By: Ryan Phillips

Written by Paul Berger

Lets Hold a Focus Group!

Defining: Focus Groups A moderate discussion held by 6-12 people who

share something in common. Used to learn views and opinions of different

individuals. Usually run around 60 minutes.

Purpose of Focus Groups To learn from the organizations

Constituents. Find out what the customer wants and how

they think. Help Improve Marketing plans

Organizing a Focus Group To eliminate bias, focus groups should have an

equal or proportional amount of people chosen at random and from different segments of the audience. Vitamins-by-mail (heavy users vs. light users)

How To find Participants Use a database of current and former customers as

well as potential customers and work the phones.

Types of Questions Interview Protocol

List of questions grouped by category Guides the Moderator Questions should be open-ended, neutrally

presented, clear and concise.

Questions not to ask! Financial questions Personal questions Questions in a “Quiz” format

Could be reluctant to sharing their views

Moderators Focus Groups should be ran by a

Moderator Usually have backgrounds in psychology

or communication Should be conversational, genial, and

dispassionate about the material being covered.

Help keep conversation flowing.

Analyzing Focus Groups Minimum of three people go through the

data and make a list of themes. Go through answers and put them into the

different themes From these themes the analysts can draw

conclusions about what is important and categorize the info.

Conclusion Good way to get resourceful info Time Consuming but effective in the

long run.