The Relevancy of Focus Groups in a Virtual World

As we celebrate our 20th anniversary, we take a moment to return to our research and data roots. In a recent INC. article, John Koetsier, VP of Insights at Singular, found that after talking with 200 CMOs, over a third said their biggest priority is to “unearth insights.” Organizations today have numerous options for acquiring customer insights, from social listening to voice of customer research to customer advisory boards. According to research by Statista, over 50 percent of research today is conducted online. Given the increasing proliferation of the virtual world, and the growing interest in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for gauging preferences, we wanted to respond to a question posed in a recent discussion on the topic of research: “Is there still a place for the traditional focus group? Yes, there is. Before delving into focus groups, our first message is that we believe in-person interaction is still the best way to secure answers to questions that are aimed at trying to understand why and how: Why do you think that? Why do you feel that way? Why do you or don’t you prefer it? Why did you buy or not buy it? Why are you loyal? Why would you switch? How would you describe your experience? And so on –questions that attempt to delve below the surface to find answers about what you bought, when you bought it, where you used it, when you used it, etc.

Questions like these are excellent for in-depth interviews, which often take a long time and are more expensive. Focus groups enable you to bring people together to collect data through group interaction. There are pros and cons to every research method, and that holds true for focus groups.

As with any research, the best place to start is with the question you want to answer. Know what you need to know. This is especially important with focus groups – you want to recruit your participants with a certain degree of homogeneity, so they are able to actively participate in what is a focused and guided discussion. Commonality of experience is an essential characteristic for participant selection.

Focus groups serve as a vehicle to collect qualitative in-depth information. They enable you to explore and identify individual attitudes and behaviors. In addition, a group discussion often sparks ideas and insights.

When a Focus Group Is the Way to Go

There are six situations for which focus groups are ideally suited:

1.      When you want to delve into complex processes, such as the customer buying journey

2.      When you want to uncover what influences buying behavior, including switching

3.      When you want to test new products or reactions to something you want people to see and touch

4.      When you want to explore the why behind satisfaction

5.      When you want to dig into brand and service quality perception

6.      When you want participants to ideate and come up with their own solutions to address a problem or scenario

From our experience, focus groups are the only way to address number six on this list. With customers being more in the driver’s seat than ever, there’s enormous value in co-creation.

Focus groups are not something you wing and moderate from the hip. The process matters, and it helps to leverage experts. In 1987, Alfred Goldman and Susan McDonald published The Group Depth Interview: Principles and Practice, the first focus group textbook. Since then, a variety of useful books have been published. Some we recommend include (in alphabetical order by author):

•  The Handbook for Focus Group Research, 2nd Edition, by Thomas L Greenbaum 
•  Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research, 5th Edition, by Richard A. Krueger and Mary Anne Casey
• Focus Groups as Qualitative Research, 2nd Edition (Qualitative Research Methods Series 16), by David Morgan

Feel free to recommend other resources in the comments!

Yes, online research methods, including online focus groups, have merit and will continue to grow as preferred research methods because of accessibility, versatility and cost. We do not believe, however, that they replace face-to-face live group discussions. Focus groups provide a method to physically observe the reactions of respondents in your target market. If you want to understand how people experience your product or services and/or the why behind their decisions, focus groups remain relevant and one of your best research methods.