The organizations make
use of the focus group for marketing purposes. It is a common
qualitative researching technique. The focus
groups are usually made of a few participants belonging to the target
market of a certain organization. These participants usually take part in group
discussions conducted by a moderator. This qualitative researching technique asks
the participants about open-ended responses regarding specific products or
services.
Salient Features
A moderator usually asks
the participants a series of questions. These questions help him/her understand
the thoughts of the participants regarding certain products, brands, images,
slogans, concepts or symbols.
Discussion Process
The qualitative data
distributed during the discussion are rich in depth and are non-numerical in
nature. These are usually textual, pictorial or symbolic data. The researcher
guiding the group is known as a moderator. He/she assists the members to engage
in free-flowing discussions. The stimulus conversation between the members brings
forth ideas, attitudes and experiences regarding specific products or brands.
The interaction present between the group members is the key element in this
technique.
Usual Topics
The researchers
carefully design the questions to be presented in the discussion of a focus
group. These questions are supposed to elicit the views of the respondents. The
group-moderator usually utilizes a discussion-manual to guide the members efficiently
during conversation. The designing of the guide ensures the logical flow of
conversation. It also helps the participants stay focused on the subject of
discussion.
The guiding manual opens
the conversation with introductory questions. These questions are supposed to make
participants start conversing with each other and express their feelings. The
moderator is supposed to keep the nature of the discussion comfortable enough
to let the participants proffer their ideas, opinions and experiences freely.
The questions of a focus group start getting informative and penetrating as the
discussion progresses.
Main Benefits
The outcome of a
conventional researching technique may be unpredictable. The focus groups
will help the researchers avail an open feedback through authentic information.
This technique will allow the consumers to express their ideas and share their
feelings openly in a session of group discussion. A researcher can never gain
these untainted feedbacks through quantified researching techniques.
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