When To Avoid Focus Groups For Research

Developed over 65 years ago by US government sociologists investigating the impact

of military propaganda movies the focus group has been the mainstay of the market research industry.

It wasn't long before, advertising agencies started to jump on the bandwagon hiring researchers to reveal out why certain kinds of products and services were selling. The focus group gained popularity because its format prompted the participants to explain their innermost secrets and motivations behind product charm, appreciation and ultimately purchase. The use of focus groups grew, especially amongst politicians as policy setting instruments. Focus groups even gained credence in academic research despite having no approved technique for the gathering or capture of the insights produced. It looked like the focus group was here to stay.

So what's gone unsatisfactory? In his recent Slate Magazine article, "Lies, Damn Lies and Focus Groups?" Daniel Gross challenges the efficacy and worth of focus groups for informing product development and marketing. He highlights the widely documented mismatch between what people say about product concepts in focus groups, and the way they really behave when it comes to buying . This small difference costs companies millions in improper product development and misplaced advertising.

On top of this there is an widening endemic dilemma with focus group research that simply refuses to go away. The 'Focus Groupie' is a term used to describe people who for whatever reason spend their spare time contributing to focus groups. You can't really blame them, the promise of about $90 and a free meal is most tempting. And nothing is off-limits for these opportunist opinion givers. Yesterday they were pretending to be gin lovers, today cautious supporters of animal rights, tomorrow who knows? Yet, in the words of one such 'focus groupie' the only thing they have in common is that "after a while the stories don't seem like lies - more like acting - and it's quite fun to pretend to be someone else".

The industry is not laughing. In a recent issue of Research the magazine of the Market Research Society (UK) it was front page news. And it's no fun for the clients who pay for this false and potentially ambiguous research. Torben Jessen, Saga's Research Manager said that we should be concerned about professional respondents, the fraudsters in particular because "The issue cuts to the credibility of research".

Not surprisingly, research into this problem carried out by BMRB between November 1999 and March 2000 found that; One in ten people who had taken part in a focus group within the previous 12 months had done so at least three times that year and one in 100 had 16 or more visits. That's one focus group misled every three weeks. The only thing we know for sure is that the difficulty is getting increasingly worse not better. Liz Sykes, committee member of the UK's Association for Qualitative Research commented "nobody really knows the scale of the problem". Yet, whatever the scale, it's the advertisers who pay for the research that are counting the cost. It's no surprise that that many are now moving away from the old focus group model. It's lasted well, remember the focus group was developed when the bi-plane was still state of the art.

Perhaps it's no surprise that a modern approach is swelling its market share dramatically. The use of online qualitative/quantitative research has doubled in the last three years. The reasons for this are conclusive. It's quick, inexpensive and by using in-house data, can tap into existing customers and prospects who have already embarked upon the desired behaviour. Thus eliminating the 'focus groupie' fraudsters.

Many marketeers are using advanced psychometric models to help their understanding. Marketing, a leading UK magazine reported recently that for Sainsbury's Bank "Marketing consultancy ESP are running and analysing an online questionnaire included in the bank's monthly e-zine, which is e-mailed to the customer database. Their plan is to build a clearer picture of consumers' product purchasing behaviour, using psychographic data." Surely this type of fast intelligent, 'focus groupie' free research is a good way forward.

That is unless you are still happy donning your flying cap and climbing into your aging bi-plane. Tally Ho!

by: jbrackin

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