Online Research: An Emerging Methodology

Though it’s still an emerging methodology, online research can have strategic advantages over more traditional types of research. It’s quicker and more cost-effective, not to mention that researchers gain access to a national audience instead of being city-specific.

As online research becomes more prevalent, it’s important that both client-side and supply-side researchers are open to experimenting with options made available through technology.

Recently, we helped a client – a major entertainment network – conduct a series of in-facility television show pilots. When the facility research was complete, the client came back to FPG and asked about options for re-contacting the original group of respondent’s for follow-up research on a different, new television show.

FPG’s leadership team created a solution that included a 10-minute online questionnaire that determined TV viewing habits. The data gathered from this questionnaire was used to choose respondents to participate in the follow-up, online research, where they were asked to view a 22-minute pilot of the new show and answer a post-viewing survey.

The project engaged more than 1,000 respondents and was completed – from start to finish! – in just a week, during the always-hectic 4^th quarter.

Stay tuned for an in-depth case study on online pilot show testing, where we’ll reveal details about the client, the marketing issues at hand, the research methods used, and what was learned from the study. In the meantime, contact your FPG Pointe Person today to see how you can take advantage of online research methods.

If you’d like future Focus Pointe Global blog posts sent directly to your inbox, please enter your email address in the field to the right to subscribe. 

3 Methods for Designing a Research Study

Designing a research study starts with deciding the method of research that will best answer the questions posed. Before beginning the process of collecting information, marketers and researchers need to define the type of information requested, and then choose whether they want respondents to answer the who, what, where, when, why, or how questions.  

In marketing research, there are 3 all-encompassing methods used to design studies: Exploratory, Descriptive, and Casual. No matter how demanding or complicated your research is, one of these methods will help you elicit the answers you need from respondents.

Formulate a Hypothesis using Exploratory Design
If your problem hasn’t been clearly defined, exploratory research can help create a hypothesis for further investigation. The goal is to learn what is causing a specific problem – answering the who, where, when, why, and how comes later.

For example, a marketing manager may notice a decline in product sales. Because they don’t know what caused the decrease, they can’t create a plan to increase sales to normal levels.

Exploratory research gathers this preliminary information, but doesn’t draw an ultimate conclusion. In general, these types of research studies are followed-up with secondary research methods or a redesigned descriptive or casual study.

Ask Specific Questions using Descriptive Design
In many cases, marketers and researchers know what their problem is, and they’ve set specific questions that need to be answered. Descriptive research studies collect data that is factual and accurate, answering who, what, where, when, and how.

Because descriptive design gives the researchers a view of a subject, population, or market segment, using this method is popular when the goal is to create a report that gives a breakdown of a specific user group, like people who own sports cars.

Descriptive research is especially useful in longitudinal and cross-sectional studies because it allows researchers to gain insights into changes that happen over time.

Conduct an Experiment using Casual Design
Casual research design helps answers the remaining question: why? These studies let researchers uncover cause and affect relationships through field experiments. In this type of design, a researcher is often trying to determine if changing an independent variable affects a dependent variable.

For instance, a researcher might choose a casual research design if they need to know what will happen to sales if a product’s packaging or messaging is altered.

When using a casual design method, the research must be highly structured so that only the variables being studied are altered. The results of these studies are most often used to forecast what might happen if XYZ changes in your product.

Need help deciding what method is best for your study? Click the button below to schedule a consultation with one of the experts at Focus Pointe Global.

If you’d like future Focus Pointe Global blog posts sent directly to your inbox, simply enter your email address in the field to the right to subscribe.

8 Hot Insider Tips from Years of Moderating

By Rich Thau

I've never blogged before about the art of structuring and moderating a successful focus group, but since the folks at Focus Pointe Global asked me to do this, I'm honored to take a stab at it. So, here goes, in sequential order from recruiting to executing:

1) How do you avoid recruiting highly opinionated people into your group so that they don't try to dominate the conversation? Well, there's no sure-fire way of achieving that, but many years ago I started inserting a question into the screener that seems to have helped mitigate the problem: Ask whether the prospective respondents have any bumper stickers on their cars that convey a political message. If they do, that's telling you something: They want to try to convert others to their point of view. You probably don't want them in your group.

2) If you want typical adults ages 22-64 in your groups, try not to host the groups before 5:30 p.m. Sessions conducted during business hours on a weekday tend to be filled with people who are not ideal respondents. Occasionally lunch-time sessions attract good respondents. Also, I've done successful groups over the weekend—but who wants to make a habit of doing groups on a weekend?

3) It makes sense to meet the recruits before bringing them in for the session. Sometimes you spot someone who shouldn't be there—perhaps they're asleep, or not fully engaged—and taking a quick look can help avoid some uncomfortable moments during a group. It also helps to ask folks stationed at the welcome desk if any respondents look familiar, like “professional respondents.”

4) I almost always re-screen groups by asking a key question differently in the re-screening than in the original screening. It's a great way to find people who should have been screened out originally, but weren't. I also regularly try to understand discrepancies between the original screening and the re-screening by pulling people out of the waiting room and asking them to explain the discrepancy. Sometimes the gap is explainable, and sometimes it's not. And when it's not, I've often paid the respondent and sent him/her home.

5) Nothing sets me off more than respondents who try to game the focus group system—they arrive three or four minutes after the group starts, so they expect to get paid without having to attend. I make it a hard rule with facilities: If the respondent isn't there by the time the group starts, they don't get paid unless I take them while in progress (something I am loath to do). The recruiting screener told them they needed to be there 20 minutes before the session starts, so if they are late, no payment.

6) My firm specializes in moment-to-moment dial testing, where we get continuous feedback on video presentations of various types during the focus group. If you ever conduct a session using the dials for this purpose, you MUST not only give detailed instructions, but also conduct a quick warm-up to make sure the instructions are understood. After moderating hundreds of sessions with the dials, I've noticed that there's at least one person in each group who does not follow the instructions—and as moderator I don't know who it is, what they're doing wrong, or how to set them straight, until I do a warm-up.

7) Never moderate groups back-to-back; always take a half hour break between groups to do a "brain dump" of what you learned, eat something, and consult with the client. We typically run groups from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and then from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

8) The most effective time-saving device I've come across for report writing is to do a digital audio backup of my session with my own recorder, and to sync the time on the recorder to the time on an easy-to-read digital stop watch that I place in front of me. When someone says something I want to make sure not to miss, I write down the name of the person and something they said, along with the time, so my associates and I can find it easily on the audio afterwards.

--

Rich Thau is President and Founder of Manhattan-based Presentation Testing, Inc. (http://www.presentationtesting.com). You can reach him at richthau@presentationtesting.com or 212-760-4358.

If you’d like future Focus Pointe Global blog posts sent directly to your inbox, enter your email address in the field to the right to subscribe.

The opinions expressed in this blog post are Rich Thau's and not necessarily those of Focus Pointe Global. 

Focus Group Confidentiality: Protecting Respondent Privacy

Maintaining confidentiality is essential to ensure the success of any focus group or marketing research project. This is especially true in cases when your research area deals with sensitive or personal information. In order to feel comfortable providing the sort of open and honest feedback that ultimately results in strong, accurate data collection, it is important that respondents are provided with assurances that their identities and individual responses will remain safe and confidential.   

Start by informing all potential respondents of the topics to be discussed in your focus group and offering a general overview of their fellow participants (age, gender, demographics, etc.). This will provide your focus group participants with a sense of safety as well as the opportunity to opt out in advance of your marketing research project if they are uncomfortable for any reason.

It’s often a good idea to avoid using your participants’ real names in the focus group setting. If you decide that the nature of your research area necessitates this precaution, be sure to implement a uniform system of name substitution before the session starts. Instructing your focus group moderators and note-takers to use numbers, letters or pseudonyms to address and identify respondents over the course of the discussion is a great way to ensure anonymity for all participants.

Last, but not least, tell your moderator to begin and end each focus group session with a brief discussion on the importance of confidentiality, imploring all participants to respect each other’s privacy and anonymity. This additional level of assurance is a necessity since, although you can promise all respondents that their information will be kept confidential by project staff, it is impossible to promise the same level of discretion from other respondents.

For more helpful advice on how to maintain focus group confidentiality, stay tuned to the FPG blog or click on the button below to schedule a consultation with one of the experts at Focus Pointe Global.

Check back in a couple of days to learn about how to protect sensitive client information in your focus groups. If you’d like this and all future Focus Pointe Global blog posts sent directly to you, simply enter your email address in the field to the right to subscribe.

Finding The Best Focus Group Moderators: Charisma

What characteristics do the best focus group moderators share? If you’ve been following the Focus Pointe Global Blog this week, then you know that objectivity is an essential trait for any successful moderator. Given the extensive flexibility, planning and coordination required by the moderation process, efficiency is also important.

Without the ability to put people at ease and create the kind of relaxed and intimate group settings that invite participation from every focus group respondent, even the most objective and efficient moderators won’t get far.

Therefore, the third, and perhaps most critical, characteristic of a good moderator can best be described as charisma. The best professional moderators know how to interact with complete strangers, encouraging them to open up and talk about their feelings, beliefs and experiences with candor. They know how to establish a strong professional rapport with respondents and encourage them to speak their minds freely and openly.

Good moderators are personable, friendly and warm without being unprofessional or overly familiar. They have an uncanny ability to manage interpersonal and group dynamics in such a way as to elicit responses from even the shyest of focus group respondents. They are skilled at probing unexpected turns in the discussion, teasing out thoughts and perceptions, digging deeper to uncover the underlying emotions and motivations without taking the entire group off track.

For more help choosing the best possible moderator for your next focus group, click on the button below to schedule a consultation with one of the experts at Focus Pointe Global.

If you’d like this and all future Focus Pointe Global blog posts sent directly to you, simply enter your email address in the field to the right to subscribe.

Finding The Best Focus Group Moderators: Objectivity

Getting the right people in the room for your focus group is the first step to marketing research success. But without a good moderator leading the discussion, even the most highly targeted group of respondents won’t yield the impactful data collection results you’re looking for. Choosing the right moderator for your focus groups is key. This week on the FPG blog, we’re taking a closer look at the top three characteristics of good moderators.

First up: Objectivity.

A truly objective moderator is essential to the success of your focus group. Without this key characteristic at the head of the table, your focus groups risk reflecting the beliefs and opinions of your moderator and not your respondents. With this in mind, it should go without saying that your moderator must never make any judgments of your focus group respondents. In order to be valuable and relevant, the information gathered in a focus group environment must remain unclouded by irrelevant factors like appearance, education level, accent, etc. If any such factors are relevant to the study at hand, they should be identified and sought out or eliminated at the recruitment stage, not during the focus group itself.

The person that you choose to lead your focus group discussions must remain completely neutral while still engaging everyone in the room. He or she should be able to guide the discussion without bias by using both verbal and non-verbal cues. That means avoiding the kinds of leading questions, gestural cues and subtle signals that might steer one or more respondents in a certain way.

For more help choosing the best possible moderator for your focus groups, click on the button below to schedule a consultation with one of the experts at Focus Pointe Global or check the FPG blog later this week when we’ll continue this series.

If you’d like this and all future Focus Pointe Global blog posts sent directly to you, simply enter your email address in the field to the right to subscribe.

Benefits of a Single Point of Contact: Focus Group Coordination

As you may recall, we began this FPG blog series with an investigation into how a single point of contact improves the recruitment process of your marketing research program. Now, we’d like to take a closer look at how this same level of dedicated service improves the focus group planning and coordination process.

Whether you are conducting a single city study or a simultaneous multi-market research project, having a single point of contact drastically improves your chances of executing a successful focus group event.

A lot of careful planning goes into creating the kind of seamless focus groups that result in powerful, actionable data for you and your clients. It helps to have someone on hand who is familiar with you and your project, so that you can rest easy knowing that every detail is taken care of according to your unique specifications. By coordinating facility logistics, ensuring that all technological requirements are met and scheduling test groups according to the needs of your client team and qualified respondents, a single dedicated point of contact provides the guidance and oversight necessary to make sure your event goes smoothly from start to finish.

To learn more about the benefits of a single point of contact for your next marketing research project, visit www.focuspointeglobal.com or stay tuned to the FPG blog. We’ll conclude this week’s series of posts with an examination of how a single point of contact improves your marketing research data results. In the meantime, if you’d like this and all future Focus Pointe Global blog posts sent directly in your inbox, simply enter your email address in the field to the right to subscribe.

If you have any questions or would like to schedule a free marketing research consultation with your own dedicated FPG Pointe Person, simply click on the button below.

Benefits of a Single Point of Contact: Analysis and Recruiting

When it comes to service, one area where many marketing research firms fall short is failing to provide the consistent oversight that helps guide your marketing research project from concept through completion. This week on the Focus Pointe Global blog, we’ll be taking a closer look at the top three benefits of having a single point of contact for your marketing research initiative.

The first area where a single point of contact benefits your project is the recruitment phase. This initial stage of your engagement is critical for establishing your marketing research goals and requirements. The in-depth analysis and implementation that takes place during the recruitment phase is integral to the overall success of your project. When your marketing research firm provides a dedicated contact, you can rest assured that this person is equipped with the knowledge and resources necessary to see your project through from start to finish.

Whether you have a tough recruit or a routine project on your hands, having a single point of contact helps you gather the highly qualified and targeted respondents that drive focus group success.

To learn more about the benefits of a single point of contact for your next marketing research project, visit www.focuspointeglobal.com or stay tuned to the FPG blog. Later in the week, we’ll take a closer look at how a single point of contact benefits your focus group coordination efforts. In the meantime, if you’d like this and all future Focus Pointe Global blog posts sent directly in your inbox, simply enter your email address in the field to the right to subscribe.

If you have any questions or would like to schedule a free marketing research consultation with your own dedicated FPG Pointe Person, simply click on the button below.