There are two types of focus groups: in-person and remote. In-person focus groups are held in a predetermined location while remote ones are conducted online via video, phone calls, or messaging platforms such as WhatsApp.

A major benefit of conducting an in-person focus group is that you can observe the participant’s facial expressions and body language, which provides valuable information. Remote focus groups provide more privacy for participants because they don’t have to disclose personal information such as their address or phone number.

How focus groups typically work

With the choice that modern technology presents, there are several ways to run focus group studies. The common denominator is that a group of people is selected to represent the target market. This group is called a focus group. The research is conducted through a moderated discussion and feedback session with the focus group.

The focus group normally consists of at least 5 people, but it can be more depending on the scale of the study. The participants are chosen because they are representative of the target market, not necessarily because they have experience in the product or service area being researched.

Major considerations

The first thing to consider when setting up a focus group is the sample size. As always, the larger the sample size, the more accurate the results will typically be.

The second consideration should be the composition of the focus group. Usually, this will depend on your target audience and the needed feedback. For example, focus groups to discuss a diaper brand would consist of mostly parents, compared to one where the subject is toothpaste which can have a more general composition.

The third consideration should be where you want to conduct the focus group. You should consider how many participants you need and how geographically dispersed they are before deciding where to conduct your research study. If the target area and the targeted focus group members are within a city, you could choose a central location to meet the participants in person. When conducting a national study, it would make more sense to run the focus group online, such as by using Market Research Online Communities (MROCs).

Generally, the main factors to consider in setting up a focus group are:

• The purpose of the focus group
• The size of the focus group
• The type of participants for the focus groups
• Location of the focus groups

GeoPoll’s Remote Focus Groups

GeoPoll has experience collecting qualitative data through multiple mobile-based methods, including MROCs. GeoPoll’s mobile-based MROCs provide the best option for collecting in-depth insights from audiences across Africa and other emerging regions. Using GeoPoll’s unique mobile-based focus groups, you can gather high-quality qualitative data in a fraction of the time and cost of traditional research methods. To learn more or request a quote, contact us today.

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Traditional Focus Groups

A focus group is a moderated discussion involving a small group of deliberately selected participants. In traditional focus groups participants meet in one location with a researcher or moderator for up to two hours and discuss specific research topics (e.g., new product concepts, ad testing, political views, etc.). The moderator leads the group discussion through a sequence of pre-determined questions meant to mimic a natural conversation. This sequence of questions is often referred to as a discussion guide.

Where focus groups differ from interviews and surveys is the interaction between group members. Members are encouraged to respond to and bounce ideas off each other, even to the point of influencing each other’s thinking. The moderator guides the flow of the discussion, using highly skilled techniques to ensure that each participant voices their opinion, and all the research questions are addressed, while remaining a neutral observer.

Traditional focus groups are typically held at a research facility. To avoid bias, the research sponsors or stakeholders are not involved in the group discussion, but may observe the focus group in real time, either through streaming video or by watching through a one-way mirror.

The perceived benefits of traditional focus groups include:

• Interaction and collaboration between participants stimulate deeper insights than a simple survey
• Both verbal and non-verbal feedback such as, language, tone of voice, and facial expressions are observed and analyzed
• A group dynamic allows for faster data collection than in-depth face-to-face interviews

The potential drawbacks of traditional focus groups are:

• Participants must be located near a research facility
• The cost and time required to travel from market to market
• Limited geographic reach due to cost, travel and facility locations
• Difficult in emerging regions due to infrastructure challenges, dispersed populations, and other factors

Recruiting Qualified Participants

Whether traditional or virtual, the general idea behind focus groups is that the group participants are representative of a larger population – and therefore their thoughts and reactions can be expected to reflect the views of that larger population. For this to be true, researchers must have a clear definition of the target population for their study.

Researchers typically work with their clients/the organization conducting the research to define the qualifying demographics and characteristics of their target audience, and then develop a screener or questionnaire to identify individuals that meet those qualifications. The screener is developed in a way that obscures the target criteria for the study so that potential respondents answer each question truthfully, rather than guessing at answers they believe the recruiter is looking for.

Because focus groups involve far fewer participants than other modes of research and each participant is expected to represent a larger population, it is imperative that each participant is both fully qualified for the study and able to express themselves effectively in a group conversation. Skilled recruiters are trained to keep the target criteria masked during the screening process and in methods for ascertaining a potential respondent’s honesty, cooperativeness, and articulateness.

Online Focus Groups

Online focus groups can be run through multiple methods, including video calls, web-based chats, and mobile-based chats. All of these methods aim to gather the same type of qualitative information gathered through traditional focus groups, but they allow respondents who are unable to travel to a research center to participate.

Virtual Video Focus Groups

With the expansion of broadband connectivity and the integration of video cameras into most laptops, tablets, and smartphones, the popularity of virtual focus groups has grown significantly in the past few years. The recent travel restrictions and lock-down measures due to COVID-19 have further pushed many companies and researchers to transition their intended in-person research online – including focus groups.

Online or virtual focus groups function almost identically to traditional focus groups, except the moderator and participants interact online via webcam. A number of virtual focus group facilities and software solutions enable moderators to present and mark-up stimuli, and for participants to interact with each other and the moderator as if they were sitting in the same room.

Virtual focus groups maintain many of the benefits of traditional focus groups without the travel costs. Some participants may also be more comfortable talking on camera than face-to-face. On the downside, broadband and webcam requirements severely limit the reach and representativeness of virtual focus groups, particularly in emerging regions of the world.

Mobile-Based Focus Groups

Conducting focus groups in emerging markets such as those in Africa, Asia, and Latin America or with other hard-to-reach respondents can present particular challenges. Traditional focus groups are expensive and infeasible when working with audiences located across wide geographic regions, and virtual video focus groups are limited to participants with a broadband connection and a working webcam. To sidestep these issues, many researchers have started to leverage Market Research Online Communities or MROCs. MROCs are custom recruited communities that researchers can tap into for either quick turn-around results or longitudinal data collection.

MROCs operate similarly to focus groups, only conducted virtually through a web-based chat. After recruiting and inviting participants to join an MROC, a skilled moderator engages with the community to solicit feedback, provide prompts and guide group discussion. When conducted via mobile phones, MROCs allow researchers to reach previously unreachable markets and populations.

Mobile-based MROCs such as those which GeoPoll facilitates are often conducted via a chat app, with participants and the moderator engaging in a discussion via their mobile devices. Mobile-based MROCs also allow researchers to engage with their target audience in an extended conversation rather than a two-hour session. Participants can be recruited for a one-time, multi-day discussion or for a continuous community that it incentivized to remain active to explore changes in opinion over a longer period of time.

The advantages of mobile-based focus groups include:

• Researchers can gather data from participants in remote locations
• Participants can engage when it is convenient for them
• Research can chat with participants over an extended period of time
• Mobile phones enable participants to take and share video and picture data

Some potential disadvantages of mobile-based focus groups include:

• The drop-off rate can be higher with remote mobile participants
• Researchers cannot observe non-verbal reactions the same as in-person groups

Conduct Mobile-Based Focus Groups in Africa, Asia, and Latin America

GeoPoll has experience collecting qualitative data through multiple mobile-based methods, including MROCs. GeoPoll’s mobile-based MROCs provide the best option for collecting in-depth insights from audiences across Africa and other emerging regions. Using GeoPoll’s unique mobile-based focus groups, you can gather high-quality qualitative data in a fraction of the time and cost of traditional research methods. To learn more or request a quote, contact us today.

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