What are focus groups? What is their use and do they work?

Focused group ( A feedback process )

Its a beneficial tool if profile of participants selected properly.

they are useful to obtain detailed information about personal and group feelings, perceptions and opinions.

They can save time and money compared to individual interviews

They can provide a broader range of information

They offer the opportunity to seek clarification

They provide useful material eg quotes for public relations publication and presentations.

 

At fewer times it may lead to some disadvantages like discussion goes into different directions , distraction and confusion can be created , obtained data becomes difficult to analysis etc....

But overall it has many advantages.

 

 

 

 

Focus group is a beneficial tool for expert opinion on certain issue, product or service to improve further or pre-launch opinion for right placement or market hit. It also create customer confidence as well as gives the impression that organization or company or brand behind the product or service has how much concern for his clients or end users even impact on their lives.

A focus group is a marketing research tool in which a small group of people engage in a roundtable discussion typically directed by a moderator who guides the discussion in order to obtain the group's opinion about or reactions to specific products or marketing-oriented issues known as test concepts.While focus groups can provide marketing managers, product managers,and market researchers with a great deal of helpful information. By providing qualitative information from well defined target audiences, focus groups can aid business in decision making and in development of marketing strategies and promotional campaigns.

What are focus groups?

A focus group is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging. Questions are asked in an interactive group setting where participants are free to talk with other group members. During this process, the researcher either takes notes or records the vital points he or she is getting from the group. Care should be noted to select members of the group carefully for effective and authoritative responses.

 

customer service

A focus group is a targeted group of consumers who are brought together for an in-depth discussion on a certain topic. Businesses and organizations rely on focus groups to obtain feedback on their products and services. Focus groups can be particularly useful in:

• Understanding how consumers view your brand
• Understanding how consumers in a particular category think
• Providing input on advertising campaigns
• Exploring the purchasing habits of customers
• Generating ideas on how to solve a problem or fill a need in a product category
• Assessing employees' attitudes about their companies

 

Opinion polling

• A focus group can provide valuable information about the potential market acceptance of the product. In the world of marketing, focus groups are seen as an important tool for acquiring feedback regarding new products, as well as various other topics. In marketing, focus groups are usually used in the early stages of product or concept development, when organizations are trying to create an overall direction for marketing initiative. In particular, focus groups allow companies wishing to develop, package, name, or test market a new product, to discuss, view, and/or test the new product before it is made available to the public
• A focus group is an interview, conducted by a trained moderator among a small group of respondents. The interview is conducted in an informal and natural way where respondents are free to give views from any aspect. Focus groups are similar to, but should not be confused with in-depth interviews. The moderator uses a discussion guide that has been prepared in advance of the focus group to guide the discussion. Generally the discussion goes from overall impressions of a brand or product category and becomes more specific as the discussion progresses.

Focus Groups are effective and helpful but in certain situations they are not result oriented. So some aspects are describe in form of Advantage and Disadvantage.

 

ADVANTAGES OF USING FOCUS GROUPS

 

•  Takes advantage of the fact that people naturally interact and are influenced by others (high face validity).
•  May be one of the few research tools available for obtaining data from children or from individuals who are not particularly literate
• Provide data more quickly and at lower cost than if individuals interviewed separately; groups can be assembled on shorter notice than for a more systematic survey.
•  Generally requires less preparation and is comparatively easy to conduct.
•  Researcher can interact directly with respondents (allows clarification, follow-up questions, probing). Can gain information from non-verbal responses to supplement (or even contradict) verbal responses.
•  Data uses respondents' own words; can obtain deeper levels of meaning, make important connections, identify subtle nuances
•  Very flexible; can be used with wide range of topics, individuals, and settings
•  Results are easy to understand and more accessible to lay audiences or decision-makers than complex statistical analyses of survey data

 

 

 

DISADVANTAGES OF USING FOCUS GROUPS

 

• Have less control over group; less able to control what information will be produced.
• Produces relatively chaotic data making data analysis more difficult.
• Small numbers and convenience sampling severely limit ability to generalize to larger populations
•  Requires carefully trained interviewer who is knowledgeable about group dynamics. Moderator may knowingly or unknowingly bias results by providing cues about what types of responses are desirable
• Uncertainty about accuracy of what participants say. Results may be biased by presence of a very dominant or opinionated member; more reserved members may be hesitant to talk.

Focus is qualitative research done among a group of people. It is very useful because you can find more about their feelings and perceptions towards certain product / services. It could be social issued, political, environmental or even random event that has caused an issue with the public.

They do help in finding solutions  to problems people no like talk about in public and the data we gather is very useful in building strategies to overcome these issues.

" Focus groups", are those , who mainly , concentrate on their work, not thinking rest of the matter, they are useful , in many ways, they think only on " Profit making " Activities" , and also, how to , take the organization , in to next level, and " Increase the value of shares of the company, in the global market". 

Thank you for invitation. I agree with Mr.  umair ansari & Asif Eqwal .

Thanks for inviting me for reply , so far many expert give answer ,i agree with them

Thank you for invocation.

I agree with all answers......

Focus group is a qualitative way of doing research. Focus groups are bunch of people, who are asked questions to get information on a specific topic or research.

The focus of the group is to reach out  other. The main work of a marketing individual is to present to other the product of a certain company.