Many companies are familiar with quantitative research as a standard method for market research. Surveys, polls, and questionnaires are staples of survey data collection. Companies can glean much information and data about buyer actions and attitudes through these traditional methods.
However, these quantitative methods come up short when understanding the “Why?” behind customers’ attitudes and behaviors. Because every good advertising and PR strategy is built on understanding your target audience, it is helpful to understand the psyche of potential customers. For this reason, focus group testing is an equally important part of market research.
Anyone familiar with focus group testing usually understands the basics of its methodology. A select number of people from a company’s target demographic is chosen and interviewed as a group. The group setting helps save time since it is more efficient than doing one-on-one interviews. The interview format also allows for more in-depth answers than a quantitative poll or questionnaire. Respondents can expound on their answers and discuss topics in greater detail.
While traditional quantitative surveys may still be a valuable source of data from companies, a combination of surveys and focus group testing can be a potent combination for market researchers. Once interviewers have interacted with respondents face-to-face, researchers can collect unique, organic, and insightful answers from the participants. These answers can help interpret survey data or provide nuance to a seemingly rigid set of survey answers.
As an experienced brand survey service and survey data collector, John Zogby Strategies offers both in-person focus groups and online focus groups. If you’d like to explore the possibilities of focus group research and marketing, be sure to contact John Zogby Strategies today.
