A focus group is a qualitative method of marketing research. It is an interview during which participants, under the guidance of an experienced professional (usually an experienced psychologist, marketer, or, as they are also called, a moderator), express their opinions about a product or service. The choice of a moderator is extremely important for the successful conduct of a focus group. The main thing, if not the only thing, that is required of such a specialist is to establish a trusting relationship with a namibia whatsapp data group of strangers in the shortest possible time and encourage them to talk about topics that are often uninteresting to them, unpleasant, or they do not think about them, or they simply find it difficult to formulate their thoughts.
Focus group participants are interviewed in the form of a group discussion, which results in the collection of subjective information on the range of issues that interest the customer at the moment.
The moderator must control the processes of interaction between participants (encourage the timid, calm down the overly active), ensure that the discussion does not go beyond the designated questions, notice standard, memorized or “cliched” answers and break through them to the genuine opinions of the participants.
A focus group is held in a specially equipped room and according to a pre-developed scenario. The average number of participants is 7-12 people. It is desirable that they do not know each other and do not have common interests, ideas, etc. The average duration of the discussion is 1.5-2 hours. Participants are selected using a special questionnaire. The main selection rule is the homogeneity of socio-demographic characteristics, as well as the frequency and volume of consumption of a particular product or service. The main objective of this method is to identify the main opinions and feelings from using a product or service.
The total number of focus groups within one study depends on the objectives and the degree of diversity of the target groups the product is aimed at. Usually, 2 to 6 focus groups are conducted.