How to Use Focus Groups for New Product Analysis
A focus group is a group of consumers who share their opinions about a product or service. Each group member represents the type of person a business expects to buy its products and services. Businesses with focus-group input can establish how their consumers feel about a new product. The group can analyze the product and then express why they would or wouldn't buy the product.
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Assembling the Right Group
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A focus group's ultimate purpose is to help ensure a new product succeeds in the marketplace. Managers must know how consumers will react to the product; it is therefore vital that focus-group members represent target buyers. Managers can't just pull a random group of consumers together. They must be clear about the background and income of the people they want to buy their product. They must advertise for focus group participants on this basis. They must also submit each potential group member to brief interviews to confirm suitability.
Clear Goals
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Each focus-group member must understand why a business has gathered the group together. Managers must set clear goals. A focus group may analyze a new product's benefits, price and marketing tactics, for example. Everyone present in the group must realize that such analysis is the goal. Focus groups contain people who have no stake in a particular business' success. They may also not have a business background. As a result, they may wander off the point. The moderator who runs a focus group must clarify the goal, resolve any questions about it at the start and remind the group of the goal when people stray from it.
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Size and Time
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A focus group should comprise six to 12 people; this allows a cross-section of people to whom a business targets a new product. When there are groups of more than 12, there is a risk of some people not contributing. Each group discussion should last no more than two hours; any longer, and group members may start to feel tired. They may even lose interest. To garner the most reliable product analysis, group members need to be alert, willing and responsive.
Moderator
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A focus group must have an experienced third-party moderator. A business' manager may feel capable of handling a small group of people for a couple of hours but she may be too involved with a product to think and act objectively. A third-party moderator can encourage open communication. A moderator can direct the group's discussion in such a way that the group feels able to provide honest feedback about a product and propose ideas. Focus-group ideas and proposals can lead to changes that ensure the launch of a new product is a success.
Budget
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The focus group must have a budget. The business that's brought the group together should pay the expenses of the participants. These expenses include travel costs; hotel accommodation if participants come from some distance away; an allowance for meals; and a set amount for covering possible loss of earnings. The business may also have to pay for renting a meeting room, refreshments and the moderator's fee.
Opinions and Data
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During a focus group's discussion of a new product, the moderator gathers opinions, data and ideas. At the end of each group session, he collates this information. The moderator then submits to a business a series of insights into both the new product and its potential consumers. These insights can show how a new product can be a success and with whom.
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References
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