Rethinking Focus Group As Concept Development Tool

This article shares insights on using focus groups for testing new products or ideas, detailing the characteristics of a well-organized focus group. Highlights include cultural context for moderating focus groups with participants from Asian countries.

 

It is a well-spread concept that before launching a new product or idea, wise marketers test consumers’ likely reactions. Concept testing strives to forecast the success of a product before it is marketed to the general public and this might be done through either qualitative or quantitative research methods. When qualitative data is considered more important than quantitative data for research purposes, and when the research aim is to uncover information relatively more complex or emotive in nature, focus group research is generally valued more than other research methodologies.

The media industry, for instance, by its very nature capitalizes on the use of concept testing methods. As medias continuously work on the inception of new programs to attract an audience, it necessarily engages in market research to understand the value of the concepts behind the development of these programs. In media research, focus groups can be used for different purposes: to generate ideas at the very beginning, even before concept testing; to validate a TV pilot, as this is the prototype of the new idea; and eventually to gauge the reaction of the market after the new product has been launched.

The main strength of the focus group methodology is in its depth. This method can, in fact, uncover information that structured surveys or questionnaires cannot. The Labbrand team believes that it is an excellent way to tap into the consumer’s mind and through this article we aim to highlight its interactive nature for the purpose of concept development rather than a fail/pass testing methodology.

In the context of new ideas and product testing, it is necessary to keep in mind a couple of pillars: the first one being that participants might not be able to realistically forecast their future behavior, especially under hypothetical situations; the second one being that participants might refuse new concepts, even when these prove to be potentially beneficial to consumers and ultimately successful. This is because, generally speaking, people tend to be hostile towards new concepts which could disrupt their habits and are not likely to welcome and recognize immediately the benefit a new product/concept could have on their lives.

Therefore, it is important to understand concept testing as a process of the product’s and idea’s careful development as a tool to guide marketers through all the stages, from the creation of the initial concept/product to its successful launch. Thus, the wise researcher will pay particular attention to the planning and execution of focus groups in order to avoid underestimating innovative concepts and ideas for the wrong reasons.

A well-organized focus group has the following characteristics: proper composition, good environment, a talented moderator, and, last but not least, sound analysis.

Firstly, the group must be strategically selected and, where the research scope allows it, homogeneous for gender, age, and social status. Human behavioral studies have consistently proven that people will be prone to share their thoughts only with those who they believe to be similar to them. Especially in Asian countries where collectivist culture prevails, participants might be more inclined to avoid expressing their opinion in order to preserve the group harmony. In China, for instance, people will not be prone to disagree with other parties in order to avoid the “loss of face” issue, which is so relevant for this culture. In Japan, people will not be likely to disagree with superiors, if these slightly older participants are in the focus group. Therefore it is vital for the selection of participants to be culturally sensitive and to ultimately create a group where every member would feel predisposed to express his or her opinion.

Secondly, the atmosphere the group enjoys is of vital importance. Focus group participants must feel at ease, comfortable to express their opinion and prone to give constructive criticism while keeping their attention on the task at hand. For this purpose, cultural considerations are a must as well. Western techniques in this methodology cannot be exported and applied to other cultures without being modified accordingly to the country where the focus group is being held. Furniture, as well as seating arrangements in the focus room, might influence people into being proactive or otherwise reticent to participate in the debate. Japanese, for instance, feel more at ease in a home like environment whereas Westerners are believed to be more prone to give non-biased opinion when focused in an aseptic environment.

Thirdly, the moderator must play a leading role. The skills relevant to this role are numerous, but we believe some important ones to be:

Creativity: the moderator should be able to pick up the mood of the participants and direct the debate, even outside the prearranged script or brief if needed.

Empathy: participants will feel encouraged to express their opinion when they feel the moderator is able to share their point of view on the subject.

Ethnicity, religion, class status and gender factors must be considered here even if they do not necessarily determinate the moderator to be from the same background of the participants.

Sensible to detect “group think”: this syndrome occurs when the group is influenced by one or more high impact individuals. The moderator needs to be able to recognize such episodes and stop them in time to avoid bias in the group response.

Analytical: the moderator needs to know when the researched information has been drawn from the group and will be able to process the given information in order to orchestrate the duration of the focus and the direction of the debate, while keeping his/her objectivity with regards to the topic analyzed.

Finally, even when all of these requirements are met, the eventual success of this research methodology still depends on the ability of the researcher, who will eventually analyze the findings. Focus groups are supposed to be documented in video/audio tapes. All too often, these documents are not analyzed by behavioral scientists or sociology experts, but by admin types who know tactics but not people. This can lead to misinterpretation and biased conclusions, which could eventually lead to the dismissal of a successful concept.

Focus groups can be a very powerful research tool. They can support marketers not just in testing new concepts but also, and maybe even more importantly, in developing the concept behind these innovative ideas and products. Focus groups have the potential to drive the development of consumer-tailored products rather than products that are intended to be accepted by consumers. But the strength of this methodology resides in its interactive nature, which makes it a development tool rather than a pass/fail test. Therefore, the researcher will need to understand this fundamental characteristic in order to be able to make the initial concept for a new product ultimately successful on the market.

This content was provided by Labbrand. Visit their website at www.labbrand.com.