July 25, 2024
Globalization, Social Media, and the advent of AI have made the consumers of today far more sophisticated and informed than the consumers of the past.
Prior to every purchase decision, a consumer will seek information that guides them to the product or service that serves their specific purpose taking into consideration factors such as quality, price point, features, design, reviews, and brand reputation, to name a few.
The consumer journey has reached a level of complexity, requiring businesses to level up their manufacturing and marketing strategies to gain a footing in the commercial world. But as a business, how do you approach the complex consumer journey? By engaging in conversations with your target consumers. In other words: Market research in the form of Focus Group Moderation and Facilitation.
In this edition of ‘FAQs with Jenny’, our CEO and Founder Jenny Karubian explains the basics of Focus Groups as an insightful market research methodology. Jenny sheds light on our Focus Group moderation and facilitation practices and elucidates the benefits of this research methodology for driving business success. Watch the video or read on to learn more.
Businesses often encounter the age-old conundrum: Will this product or service appeal to our target consumer?
Conceptualizing a product or service that appeals to your target consumer requires more than just an understanding of how to manufacture or market a great product or service. It requires actionable insights into how to manufacture or market a product or service in a way that appeals to your target consumer, in a way that fulfills your consumers’ wants and needs above and beyond your competitors.
With Focus Group market research, you can gain direct access to a sample of your target consumers. Understand their consumer mindsets along their purchasing journey by asking incisive questions and gaining in-depth insights.
Once you’ve put all your consumer doubts to rest, our research team will convert your consumer’s answers to actionable insights. These insights will inform your product/service development strategy, marketing strategy, brand relaunch strategy, and more.
According to Johns Hopkins University, ‘Focus groups are a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their attitude and/or feelings towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, or idea. Questions are asked in an interactive group setting where participants are free to talk with other group members.’
Jenny reveals what clients often hope to gain from a Focus Group study. She says that clients want to know, ‘What’s the customer journey?’, ‘How do people buy a product or service like the one they offer?’ or will most often than not want to get product reactions. She adds that, ‘Focus Groups are a major part of the research offerings that we have here at Ready to Launch’.
Jenny also goes on to talk about the merit of Focus Groups as a market research solution when businesses are conceptualizing ‘a whole new set of ideas for their innovation pipeline’ and are looking to put them to the test. In other words, a Focus Group can act as a litmus test of product or service viability among your target consumers.
Although Focus Groups are an incredibly valuable market research tool for businesses they also have the potential to provide non-profit organizations and the like with insight into human behavior and beliefs on a given topic. Jenny shares that there are some clients who ‘want to talk to the community and engage them in ways where they garner community input for their institution or for social programs’ and that Focus Groups can be conducted to understand the nuances of community conversations.
According to a research paper titled ‘Importance of Focus Groups in Qualitative Research’, the quality of the data collected in a Focus Group ‘depends on a number of factors, including whether the researcher locates enough participants, selects appropriate samples, chooses relevant questions, has a qualified moderator(s), and uses an effective analysis strategy’ (Gundumogula, 2020).
Jenny shares our step-by-step Focus Group research process:
According to Jenny, ‘Typically the difference between what we do online versus what we do in person has something to do with what’s being tested’. She goes on to provide an example stating that, ‘If we are testing anything the customers need to touch, smell or interact with, then we do those in person at a research facility’.
She then goes on to talk about when it would be suitable to conduct Online Focus Groups instead of In-Person Focus Group studies. Jenny says, ‘If we are simply having a conversation then we do that through digital methodologies. Digital methodologies are great. They save a lot of money on travel, on facility costs and a whole variety of different things and clients like that they can observe the Focus Groups without having to travel and pay for flights’.
So, if your business has a limited market research budget but is looking to gain deep insights into your target consumer’s behavior and beliefs then opting for an online Focus Group market research solution is a cost-effective and time-efficient option to get to know your target consumer.
Here’s a list of the key benefits of Focus Groups highlighted by Jenny:
1. Accurately gauge the success of potential concepts
2. Expert market research analysis and recommendations based on key findings
3. Understand your consumer better
Watch the full video to hear Jenny explain each of these benefits in depth.
Jenny shares that, ‘Focus Groups are priced on an hourly basis as well as on the basis of the recruitment’. She goes on to reveal that the cost of Focus Group market research includes a ‘per person cost’ as well as ‘incentives for participating’.
If you want to learn more about ‘Market Research Pricing’, click the link here.
When compared to other market research methods like Surveys, Social Listening, and Market Intelligence Reports (MIR) – Focus Groups offer businesses the chance to understand the layers of complexity of the consumer journey. Focus Group research offers businesses a way to discover exactly what the consumer is thinking at the point of purchase and even before: each Focus Group study is an act of peeling back the layers of consumer behavior to unlock the psychology behind each purchase in the current age of information.
If you want to reduce business risk and get to know your target consumers, get in touch.
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