A Focus on Focus Groups
Learn more about Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and how they can enhance participant engagement
Learn more about Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and how they can enhance participant engagement
Published 7 Sep 2023
Unlike surveys and polls, focus groups discussions tend to capture deep and more personal responses from consumers rather than purely quantifiable data. Focus group discussions are facilitated by researchers and marketers and are ideally conducted in small groups consisting of 4 to 8 participants. The researcher or interviewer poses questions to expose respondents to a more open discussion about their insights, motivations, reasons and preferences. This strategy can be used by market research teams and is best applied when conducting food taste surveys, product analysis, and service evaluation and reviews.
Understanding why consumers choose certain products or brands can be a challenge. However, focus groups are a handy tool to help companies explore this and similar questions. This article will explain how businesses can benefit from focus groups, provide tips on conducting effective discussions, help you know the right questions to ask, and recommend tools to capture significant research data.
If SURVEYS tell us that 78% of the middle aged women prefer drinking X milk, FOCUS GROUPS help us understand why 78% of the middle aged women prefer X milk above other milk brands.
Surveys capture quantitative data while focus groups explore qualitative and other influencing factors. Focus groups can be used to uncover the reasons driving people to make a certain decision. As in the example above, middle aged women may be attracted to drink milk X due to factors such as price and quality, or other factors like celebrity endorsement.
Preparations should be made to perform an effective focus group discussion. Below we’ve listed focus group requirements and steps in conducting one:
Carefully choose questions which can prompt more meaningful conversations. Choose engaging and open-ended questions over simple “yes” or “no” close-ended questions.
For example:
Eliminate manual tasks and streamline your operations.
To give you a better picture and to serve as a guide, we’ve created a sample report using SafetyCulture’s Focus Group Template:
Scenario: A focus group is organized for product analysis. They are trying to determine “Why Women Prefer Wonder Panda Milk”. The participants in the focus group will be women aging from 45 to 65. |
This focus group pdf report sample consists of 4 sections:
Conducting focus groups can help uncover underlying motivating factors of consumer behavior. This arms businesses with qualitative data to improve and adapt their product and service offering during development and moving forward. Browse these free digital focus group templates you can use to conduct your next focus group discussions.
The different types of focus groups are listed as follows:
An ideal focus group involves four to ten respondents in a session. Having a small group count provides participants enough time and comfort to answer questions, enabling a more open and in-depth discussion of the product, service, program, or topic. It also allows moderators to have better control over the flow of conversation compared to large group settings.
Focus group discussions typically last from 60 to 90 minutes and should not exceed two hours. This duration provides sufficient time to have meaningful conversations about all necessary questions for the product, service, or program discussed.
Focus group templates are the go-to tools of research teams for collecting qualitative data derived from open discussions. These forms can help researchers understand consumer behavior for making certain decisions. Focus group moderators can use these templates to create more in-depth and meaningful conversations.
Erick Brent Francisco
Erick Brent Francisco is a content writer and researcher for SafetyCulture since 2018. As a content specialist, he is interested in learning and sharing how technology can improve work processes and workplace safety. His experience in logistics, banking and financial services, and retail helps enrich the quality of information in his articles.
Erick Brent Francisco is a content writer and researcher for SafetyCulture since 2018. As a content specialist, he is interested in learning and sharing how technology can improve work processes and workplace safety. His experience in logistics, banking and financial services, and retail helps enrich the quality of information in his articles.
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