Focus group is one of the qualitative research methods which is a semi-standardized interview, conducted in the form of a discussion/ It is intended to receive a great massive of “subjective information” from participants. The primary goal of the research is obtaining information about how and why its participants apperceive certain objects. Discussion is based on a plan, which contains all important issues. During the discussion, most attention is paid to subjective experience of participants, which express their understanding, determination and explanation of the given situation. Their answers help to verify assumptions. The unscheduled participants’ ideas bear new assumptions which need further testing.
Each research needs several focus groups in order to provide reliable and valid data. Their number depends on the importance of such factors as gender, age, social status, nationality of respondents and so on for the project. Our focus groups experience shows that 2-6 discussions are usually needed to study one category of target audience. A focus group traditionally includes 8 participants.
Focus group method is crucial for marketing researches. It is used in researches, devoted to new product ideas, their positioning and apperception, testing product’s image as well as study of positions, opinions and motivation of consumers. When you introduce a new product, you should discover how its package, appearance, taste and flavor would be perceived by prospective consumers, what is consumers’ unconscious attitude to a product, what do consumers expect about it, etc. Revelation of campaign’s object comprehension stereotypes of prospective consumers, their needs and expectations is also very important for making up correct advertising and PR campaigns.
Sometimes client tries to test a product by himself in order to save research costs. However, this kind of testing is invalid and may lead to a number of misinforming actions. Accurate and scrupulous selection of respondents is the cornerstone of effectiveness of focus group discussions. Eight people, who form a focus group, must meet a number of criteria, complement each other and make up a detailed profile of target consumers group. Their difference from client company employees is, first of all, their non-professionalism and disability to provide an expert estimation. Besides, they meet the criteria of target group, and have no official barriers, which are inevitable among company’s staff.
