How Can Focus Groups Be Used to Generate Ideas?
A focus group is a type of qualitative research in which multiple persons are asked to provide their opinions or feelings about a particular product, new concept or promotion. Focus groups are usually run by moderators, who have expertise in garnering facts without prodding for responses. Focus groups can be used to generate ideas in numerous ways, though the data is not usually projectable across the general population.
Other People Are Reading
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Buying Behavior
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Focus groups can be used to better understand where consumers shop, how often they patronize certain retail establishments and whether or not they go to multiple stores for products. These sessions can also enlighten marketing personnel on the consumers' proclivity toward brand loyalty. This would be the case if most respondents indicated their tendency to visit multiple stores in search of a company's products. The takeaway from the focus group may generate new ideas on improving distribution.
New Product Introductions
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Many companies use focus groups to gain feedback on new product introductions. For example, a restaurant may have several meal arrangements and need to decide which one generates the most interest. Respondents may be asked to rate the taste and texture and state what they liked about the meal and their likelihood of purchasing it. Feedback from such a session can provide corporate leaders with ideas on which meal configuration has the most potential for success. They might also learn that they need to change the portion size or someone may suggest a catchy name for the product.
A company that is selling a more technical product may have demos available for each respondent and can watch people use its product and garner new ideas on how to make it easier to use.
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Feedback on Advertising
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Focus groups can be used to test certain advertising campaigns, slogans or taglines. If a company's promotion is meant to be funny and the feedback proves otherwise, further probing may generate new ideas on how to improve a certain commercial or advertising piece. Marketing personnel may also discover better ways to word a slogan or tagline.
Pricing Information
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Pricing products can be a challenge. A company needs to make a profit, but it can also overprice a product. Feedback from focus groups may divulge that a certain price is too high, and participants may suggest a price with which they are more comfortable. Bundled pricing may be more practical for certain products or services. All data garnered about pricing can generate myriad ideas on how to improve the pricing structure of a product or service. This can save a company money before it runs a beta test, especially if it decides to forgo more quantitative research.
Product Packaging
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A consumer products company may learn that a new product size is too large for consumers to handle or that a package needs to be tweaked in some way to make it easier to pour, use or open. Many of these ideas can be generated from focus group participants before the product is tested.
Feedback From Specific Buying Groups
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Some focus groups can be used to procure different opinions from various user groups. Those who are heavy users of a product may have different opinions than lighter users. Women may have different opinions than men about certain products or services. Ideas can then be generated on how to better reach these target groups through advertising.
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