Focus groups: How and why to use them in market research
- Focus groups are used to gather candid customer opinions and perceptions about your market research question, so you can make informed business decisions.
- This method is a qualitative type of research method.
- Focus groups are conducted in a neutral environment so customers feel comfortable saying what they really think about the products or services discussed.
- You should use focus groups and surveys in combination to gather a holistic overview of your target market's view point.
Customer reviews are indispensable for businesses looking to grow, no matter whether they are online or brick-and-mortar. In this article, we define focus groups, explain how they differ from surveys, and the discuss the benefits and disadvantages.
What is a focus group?
A focus group is a market research method used to gather qualitative data from your target market.
Focus groups are conducted in small gatherings of participants in an interactive and neutral setting, generally a room or an online video conference. Trained moderators guide group discussions on a specific research topic. They facilitate structured conversation and make changes spontaneously to accommodate in-depth conversation into a particular topic.
Focus groups are a great way to gather firsthand feedback from your customer base and potential customers.
As a researcher, focus groups can help you understand consumer behaviors, gauge interest in new product features, and gather feedback on marketing strategies, and more. Ultimately, focus groups can help you address real customer pain points and make more strategic business decisions. Those who know how to run a focus group will build enough flexibility into the process to be able to make changes on the fly, or dive deeper into a particular topic that may come up during the conversation.
Focus groups vs. surveys
A feedback survey is a questionnaire that’s sent or presented to a large number of people, whose responses represent the attitudes and views of a larger group.
Surveys tend to be classified as quantitative research, which provides conclusive answers in the form of structured data—statistics, trends, and so on. But surveys are great in that they can also include qualitative questions.
For example, after asking a quantitative question like…
How likely are you to purchase any of our products again?
- Extremely likely
- Very likely
- Somewhat likely
- Not so likely
- Not at all likely
…you might follow up with a qualitative one like:
Which one of our products did you find the most appropriate to your needs and why?
This question will allow you to gather information into your customer’s attitude toward your products and their likelihood to repurchase. In other words, you can get both the hard data and the why’s and how’s behind your respondents’ actions.
Surveys let you ask questions and measure just about anything. They can be as short as one question and as long as several hundred. Answer formats can include multiple choice, rating scales and open-ended questions. In terms of both budget and timing, surveys offer a lot of flexibility as well.
Related reading: Focus groups and surveys for customer and market research
When to use a focus group
Now that you understand the definition of focus group, let's look at when you should use a focus group—or a survey.
The first suggestion is that you write down the questions you’re trying to answer.
- Are you going to be satisfied with the answers from a one-way questionnaire, or do you think you may need to go into a deeper conversation with follow-up questions and longer explanations?
- Are you looking for directional information (what unsolved needs your customers may have, for example) or statistical proof (how many of your existing customers bought your new product)?
- Will you feel comfortable making decisions based on a handful of opinions, or do you need customer feedback from a larger sample size before moving forward?
As a rule of thumb, if you want to have a conversation with your customers that will help provide direction, pursue a focus group. However, if you have well-defined questions and need to reach a large group or multiple groups of customers, a survey may better suit your needs.
The combination of the two methodologies can provide tremendous insight, since they can be used for similar goals, such as A/B testing or product development research. The focus group can provide inspiration while the survey may offer validation.
You can even prepare for a focus group by conducting a survey to understand your core demographic, like an online mattress company did using SurveyMonkey Audience.
The pros and cons of focus groups
Now let’s look at the advantages and disadvantages of focus groups.
Focus Groups – Pros
- Get direct feedback from your customers. Hear feedback in your customers’ own words and voices, the most personal kind of customer review you can get.
- Discover new business opportunities. Uncover ideas and issues that your team may not have considered but are important to your customer.
- Conduct in-depth interviews. Enjoy the flexibility of diving deeper into issues that come up during the discussion.
Focus Groups – Cons
- Costly investment. Expenses include recruitment and compensation of participants, facility rental, moderator and/or agency fees, and sometimes travel to multiple locations to get perspectives from different demographics.
- Participant bias. There’s a risk of receiving skewed results when outspoken participants dominate the discussion.
- Sourcing talent. Recruiting qualified participants may be hard due to the time commitment involved.
5 tips on how to conduct focus groups
Now you have an idea of which research method will suit your goals better. Fortunately there are some similarities in the work involved when the time comes to prepare for implementing them.
- Goals, goals, goals. All successful research projects start with clear objectives. Ensure that the team knows the main research questions and decisions you hope to inform with the project’s results. Get input from the key stakeholders in your organization and outside partners to ensure that you get it right the first time. Do-overs are expensive in time and money.
- Recruit participants. Whose opinion do you need to hear in this research project? Just as important, who do you want to exclude? Think about this question in terms of demographics, to ensure that your respondents represent the right target audience.
- Develop the content. If you’re conducting a focus group, you need to prepare a discussion guide or a script for the moderator. What questions should they ask and what do they need to know about your product or service to answer questions from participants?
- Consider participant preparation. Do you want the participants to do any activity or homework before they arrive at the focus group? Let them know and get that content ready.
- Establish a budget. Do you need a budget? Compensation is customary in the case of focus groups, since you’re asking for a bigger time and energy commitment from your participants.
Focus group frequently asked questions
What’s the main purpose of a focus group?
The main purpose of a focus group is to collect data on your customer’s opinions and perceptions about your product, service, company, or other research topic. Researchers can then use these insights to make strategic business decisions to improve customer loyalty and satisfaction.
What are the different types of focus groups?
The several types of focus groups include:
- Single focus group
- Mini focus group
- Two-way focus group
- Dual moderator focus group
- Dueling moderator focus group
- Respondent moderator focus group
- Remote focus group
How do I use focus groups and surveys to conduct user research?
Focus groups and surveys can help marketers, product managers and designers conduct user research, which is part of user-centered design.
Usability.gov recommends using online surveys for all stages of a design project:
- getting to know the user
- creating the content
- designing the product
- testing prototypes to refine the final version
It also suggests relying on focus groups for the first three stages.
Virgin America is one company that used online surveys to find out how its customers felt about its services. The airline relied on SurveyMonkey questionnaires to revamp its in-flight menu with more fresh food and more potato chips (surprised?), among other improvements to its customer service.
Ready to start your consumer research?
You know well that nothing is black and white in the world of market research and consumer feedback. Focus groups and surveys can reap well-rounded feedback that help you make more informed business decisions. Now you have all the information you need to make an informed decision about how to get effective customer reviews and feedback on your products and services.
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