The Advantages of Focus Groups

Focus groups are a primary research technique in which eight to 10 individuals participate in a discussion led, typically, by a trained moderator. Users of focus groups vary from product/service businesses to consulting firms to government agencies, as they are a useful research technique for many topics. Focus groups have many advantages, chief of which are speed, flexibility, immediacy, appropriateness and team bonding.

Speed

If a research objective and subject group is well defined, then a focus group project can be executed in as little as a few days. Depending on the objectives, it may be relatively easy/fast or difficult/slow to recruit the kind of people you want in your group. For example, finding 10 barbecue eaters in Kansas City is easier than say, finding 10 financial planners in Cleveland who use a particular software. Most focus groups projects feature four to eight groups, but it is not unusual to have projects that require 10, 20 or more groups.

Flexibility

Focus groups are a flexible research technique; this flexibility manifests itself not only in how the focus groups are conceived, but also to making changes along the way. Different focus groups are necessary for different research issues; although a prototypical focus group features eight to 10 people, a focus group can be configured in whatever way best suits the research needs. Imagine you have questions about your package and brand image and you'd like your participants to engage in time-consuming projective techniques*. In this case, you might choose to do mini-groups of four to six people, so that you have enough time to speak to each individual about what they've done. Making changes along the way because focus groups follow a free-flowing discussion format. You can add/delete/modify questions up until the last minute, between groups, and often even during a group.
* Projective techniques are designed to elicit deeper level thoughts and feelings and include exercises such as imagining a brand as a person, writing an obituary for a brand or creating a collage from clipped magazine images that describe a brand.

Immediacy

Since focus groups are commonly recruited to comprise of a company's customers, they are an excellent way for business people to get out of their offices and see and hear how "regular people" talk about your product or service and to learn the specific consumer language surrounding your product/service.

Appropriateness

The rationale behind a focus group is that the combined responses of the group working together will be more insightful than talking to them individually. As such, focus groups can be a valuable starting point for development projects, such as new products, advertising, branding and so forth. That said, focus groups are inappropriate for many research questions. Ask yourself if the answers you seek can be quantified and compared. If so, you would be better served fielding a different kind of research from focus groups. But if your inquiry includes key words such as "explore," "insight," "guidance" or "development," then focus groups are likely an excellent way to go.

Team Bonding

This last advantage may seem somewhat frivolous, but tremendous bonds often form when business comrades attend focus groups. You are with your teammates all day, sharing meals, airline flights and car rides, not to mention several hours together in a back room. In addition, if the focus groups are successful, that is, there seems to be some clear cut learning and implication, then the team has arrived at that conclusion together. They've all seen it and heard it, they can then present a united front, moving forward.