1. A Clients Guide: Optimizing FocusGroup ProductivityH. William Moore and Company

2. Introduction I have observed over two thousand focus group sessions,either in front of the mirror as a moderator or behind themirror as a client. I have witnessed group sessions thatresulted in creative epiphanies. I have also been present atgroup sessions that turned out to be unmitigated disasters. Drawing on this experience, the following presentationoutlines client-directed suggestions for optimizing focusgroup productivity.Bill MooreH. William Moore and Company 3. How Focus Groups Can Go Wrong! Flawed research objectives Deficient moderator/project fit Inadequate moderator briefing Substandard respondent recruitment quality Inflexible discussion guide administration Subjective listening behavior Reluctance to occasionally break the rules 4. Write Clear Concise Research Objectives Carefully examine your written statement of research objectives Do your objectives include words like measure or project? If so,you should be considering a quantitative research methodology. If you used words like explore, investigate or identify you areon-track for focus group or other qualitative methodologies. Ask yourself how the research findings will be used. Try thisexercise: If I knew _____, I could _______. The more closely you can define the outcome you want, the morelikely your research supplier will be able to deliver it. If you cant limit yourself to a single objective, priorize yourinformation needs into primary and secondary objectives. Circulate your research objectives to the key stakeholders in yourorganization. Is everyone on the same page? 5. Moderator Selection Criteria Experience: How many focus groups has the moderatorconducted? In what client industries? Marketing Acumen: Does the moderator have a thoroughunderstanding of the practical aspects of marketing? Communication Skills: Ask for a face-to-face meeting with a newmoderator. Is the moderator a good listener? Problem Solving Capability: Does the moderator understand yourmarketing situation and research objectives? Is the moderatorsresearch proposal unique to your situation or is it boilerplate? Doesthe moderator offer creative solutions for your information needs? 6. Moderator Selection Criteria continued Dedication/Involvement: Will the moderator remain personallyinvolved in all aspects of your project? Who else will be involved?Who will perform the post session analysis and/or prepare the finalreport? Multi-Tasking: An effective moderator will be fast on his/her feet.Group moderation requires simultaneous activity on multiple levelssuch as: following the discussion guide, listening to the responses,probing for additional information, conjuring new opportunistic linesof follow-up, keeping all respondents involved, dealing with difficultpanelists and managing stimuli like concept boards, etc. 7. Briefing Sessions Dont wait to the last minute to brief your moderator. In fact, theideal time for briefing research suppliers would be at the proposalrequest phase. I dont believe you can over-brief a moderator, unless you wait untilthe last moment. There will be a significant return on your time investment for in-depth briefings. Detailed pre-session briefings should minimize theneed for the disruptive passing of notes to the moderator while asession is in progress. Be willing to share prior research, marketing plans or any otherrelevant information. If this background information is sensitive, getyour moderator to sign a non-disclosure agreement. 8. Respondent Recruitment Explicit respondent recruitment objectives should be incorporatedinto the overall study objectives. Dont skimp on respondent coop payments. Rely on local facilityrecommendations. Limit the screening interview to ten minutes. Keep the questionssimple with simple response scales. Ask questions that minimizerespondent guessing their behavior patterns. Avoid screeningcriteria that relies on the screeners subjective judgment, with theexception of articulation questions. Allow two weeks for an effective respondent recruitment period;longer for low incidence or complex screening. Consider using reputable national interviewing service firmsspecializing in focus group recruitment. Always rescreen respondents 9. Discussion Guides The operative word in the term Discussion Guide is guide! A thoroughly briefed moderator should be given the freedom andflexibility to opportunistically switch the sequence of questioningand also ask new, unanticipated, extemporaneous questions. Rather than waiting until the final moments of the group sessions,schedule a mid-session mini-briefing with the moderator to discussinterview adjustments. Dont data dump the discussion guide with items unrelated to yourprimary research objectives. Each group session panelists fairshare of air times is about 10 minutes. Do you want superficialinsight on multiple issues or in-depth feedback on your primaryobjective? 10. Objective Listening In a typical round of focus groups you are going to find naysayersand yea-sayers. The naysayers are the people who take extra pains to see thenegative side of everything. They are masters at pointing out flaws. The yea-sayers are motivated to please the moderator, attemptingto respond with the right or expected answer. Both respondent types are to be valued. Dont ignore the naysayer,they can provide the insight to improve or refine ideas andconcepts. It may be helpful to identify the naysayer and yea-sayer outliersand focus separately on the panelists who fall in between. 11. Breaking The Rules Rule #1: Focus groups are best conducted at dedicated researchfacilities. Not necessarily. Non-traditional focus group settings can inspire creativity and trigger reality based responses. We have successfully conducted group interviews in retail stores, at trade shows, at jobsites, on cruise ships and in respondents homes, i.e., social network parties. Rule #2: Keep clients behind the mirror. In some instances, particularly dealing with technical subjects, panelists get annoyed when moderators repeatedly answer questions with: What do you think the answer is? The presence of a technical professional can enhance the outcome of these sessions. However, the moderator has to stay in control, i.e., Lets ask the expert for that information. 12. Breaking The Rules continued Rule #3: Never describe the nature of the research to panelists inadvance of the group sessions. In most cases it is desirable to minimize the risk of recently recruited respondents doing homework on a suggested or inferred research topic prior to the group discussion. In some instances, pre-session homework assignments can enhance the quality of group session discussions. Examples: In-home use with new product prototypes Scavenger hunts to purchase merchandise from competing retailers Professional tradesmen bringing specified tools to the sessions Mini photo albums of home decoration projects 13. Breaking The Rules continued Rule #4: Never collect quantitative data in focus group sessions. Asking respondents to use pencil and pads to record initial reactions is a common focus group practice. Why not extend this approach to self administered questions with response scales? A conflict between the scalar data and the follow-up discussion points should serve as an analytic red-flag warranting even greater in-depth review of the results. Consider replacing paper questionnaires with iPad or iPod Touch devices. Moderators and client observers could see scalar responses in real time, and tailor more effective follow- up. Use extreme caution in disseminating same base sized quantitative data collected in focus groups 14. CONTACT: Bill MooreH. William Moore and Companyhwmco@att.net216.381.8573