MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, CULTURE AND RESEARCH OF

REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
ACADEMY OF ECONOMIC STUDIES OF MOLDOVA
Faculty: “International Economic Relations”

Individual Study
Object : Focus Group Research Method

Presented by: Turcu Alexandra

Group: EMREI-203
Headteacher: Gaugaș Tatiana

Chișinău 2021

 Market research focus groups are controlled interviews of a target audience that are led by
facilitators. Participants in a focus group are selected based on a set of predetermined criteria, such
as location, age, socioeconomic status, race, and more

Focus groups are designed to identify consumers' feelings, perceptions, and thoughts about a

particular product, service, or solution. The rst step to having an effective focus group is to clearly
de ne the purpose of the group. You need to know what you want the discussion to accomplish and
what demographic best helps you achieve that. With a goal clearly de ned, it's much easier to
choose participants that are quali ed to partake in the focus group

Focus group discussions should be held in an environment that is non-threatening and receptive.
Unlike interviews, which usually occur with an individual, a focus group allows members to
interact and in uence each other during the discussion and consideration of ideas

The line of questioning used in focus groups—known as the questioning route, interview guide, or
protocol—is predetermined and follows a logical sequence intended to mimic a natural exchange.
The purpose of a focus group is not to arrive at a consensus, some level of agreement, or to decide
what to do about something

Bene ts of Focus Groups

Focus groups are valuable because they allow alternative ways of obtaining information from
consumers without using surveys, which tend to be viewed as scienti c and only
produce quantitative data. Focus groups utilize qualitative data collection methods. Just as in the
dynamics of real life, the participants are able to interact, in uence, and be in uenced—giving
actionable insight into customers' knowledge of their brands, products, or services

Focus groups have a distinct advantage over other types of market research because they are
exible by design. You can listen to someone's tone and view their body language when talking to
better understand how they feel about a particular subject. A good moderator who prepares well for
a focus group will act as a proxy for the decision-makers and capitalize on the ability to talk to
customers directly

If performed ef ciently, market research focus groups are an excellent resource for businesses. The
quality of a focus group's outcomes depends on the discussion and the ability to keep participants
focused on the task. Exploring their deep feelings, perceptions, and decisions about the research
topic is easier if participants are in a welcoming environment. Participants must be comfortable
enough to interact openly

Focus group research ndings are robust. When focus group participants are genuinely engaged in
the study, and the moderator is suf ciently skillful, the outcome can be clarity about major themes.
Hard data is important in business, and it has its place, but it doesn't always tell the full story. Focus
groups can help businesses make sense of the numbers and get a deeper understanding of their
consumers

Key Takeaway
• Focus groups participants are deliberately selected to get consumer feedback on products or
services
• Participants in focus groups must t a pre-determined criteria
• Focus groups provide more qualitative information than traditional surveys
fl
fi
fi
.

fl
fi
s

fi
.

fi
fi
fi
fi
.

fl
.

fi
fi
.

fl
.

Advantage: Easily Measure Customer Reactio

A focus group is a useful method that can be used to measure the reaction of customers to your new
product or company strategies. Focus groups usually provide immediate ideas for the improvement
of particular products or concepts. They also help identify the product requirements of the end-user
as well as other needs not addressed by the company and its competitors. In addition, focus groups
provide insights on the current position of your competitors in the mind of the customer, as well as
measuring the reaction of customers to a product’s design, packaging, price and message.

Disadvantage: Not as In-Depth as Other Market Researc

Compared to individual interviews, focus groups are not as ef cient in covering maximum depth on
a particular issue. A particular disadvantage of a focus group is the possibility that the members may
not express their honest and personal opinions about the topic at hand. They may be hesitant to
express their thoughts, especially when their thoughts oppose the views of another participant.

Advantage: Time-Saving Opportunit

The condensed nature of a focus group makes it possible for your business to solicit a quantity of
opinions and feedback on multiple aspects of a product without the time intensive process of
individually soliciting interviews. Time saved in the research phase of product development is key
in rapidly evolving industries, particularly if a comprehensive focus group allows you to expedite a
product's journey to the marketplace.

Disadvantage: Expens

Compared with surveys and questionnaires, focus groups are much more expensive to execute.
Participants sometimes offer their time for free; others will have to be compensated in cash or in
kind. Most of the expense is incurred behind the scenes, however. The questionnaires and product
demonstrations must be carefully created to ask the right questions and elicit the type of responses
that will be most valuable to the company's market research

Disadvantage : Moderators impact

Moderators can greatly impact the outcome of a focus group discussion. They may, intentionally or
inadvertently, inject their personal biases into the participants' exchange of ideas. This can result in
inaccurate results. Moderators can also lead focus group participants into reaching certain
assumptions or conclusions about an idea or product. Out of fear in going against the opinion of the
moderator, or even out of fear of disappointing the moderator, participants may not disclose their
true and honest opinions.
e

fi
 As an EX-surveyor and marketing researcher I’ve been working in a cigarettes-producing-
company, we used to create surveys and chase from the consumers feedbacks and opinions about
our product comparing to others.

Recently we have created a focus group project where we used to interview speci c smokers
according to only one cigarette brand as for example “ Marlboro “ and asked speci c questions
about their choice. For example :

Question 1: By talking generally about various brands and their image, color, size, packaging and
what that means for them about the cigarettes… We used to compare our product to the most
popular and old on the market brands, because our name was new on the market, in order to reach
the same level we compared to the best ones like :
Marlboro 
Parliament
Winston
Bond

We were asking speci cally about the packaging and what they like about it —how people then
view the cigarettes as a result of the packaging.

Who smokes these cigarette brands and why?   Going back through brands discussed above we
were asking the group about the stereotypes and identity of smokers via each cigarette brand.
For example :
Do you think there are there differences in who smokes what cigarettes via race, class, gender,
sexual orientation, age?
Are these differences connected to packaging? How?

What cigarette brand did they smoke when they rst began smoking and what drew them to it?
Asking speci cally about images, color, size—what did those things say about the brand and
about you when you were a new smoker?

What brand do they smoke now and why?

If the brand changed—why?
What does this brand say about them now?
If with same brand—why?  

Have they ever in uenced or been in uenced by someone in the speci c brand to smoke?  
Who and why?  

Think back to the last time they purchased cigarettes at a convenience store or just of cigarette
packs that you’ve seen. They had to tell us about any packs that stood out to you because of the way
they looked.

If they didn’t care but just wanted a cigarette, what brand would they be willing to smoke? Is there a
brand they wouldn’t smoke? Why?

fi
fl

fi

fl

fi

fi
fi
fi

 When you join other smokers in a public social outing are you likely to talk and or ask to borrow
a cigarette based on the brand they smoke or another factor such as race, gender, etc.
Are there any speci c ways a pack you wouldn’t smoke would look?

This is an example of the survey we made for our focus group for speci cally re-branding, re-
designing and developing our product on the market.
The focus group research was fun and useful for the both parts, we managed to introduce our
product to the consumers some of them even changed their preferences and started using our
products.

Focus groups take their roots in the social sciences and have been adopted by market researchers as
a valuable interface between businesses and their customers. Whilst some idea of frequency can be
gained from focus groups, in essence, focus groups do not seek to measure; they uncover issues,
unravel processes and test reactions and perceptions. They can be used stand alone, and they can
augment and complement other methodologies. When choosing this data collection methodology,
the purpose of the study needs to be considered carefully

Human beings are programmed as social beings; we perform in groups for much of our day to day
interactions. The focus group uses this feature as a tool to collect data about people’s experiences.
Focus group interviewing is about observing and listening. The focus group is a powerful tool and
the learnings are great in a short space of time. The group experience is key; it is about creating the
right environment to enable people to freely express their views, using the right tools to get them to
open up and to listen to and make sense of their views

The ingredients of a successful focus group are getting the right people, in the right place, with the
right group moderator and the right line of questioning. The logistics of setting up groups cannot be
underestimated; the best moderator with the best stimulus tools will not manage to achieve the
research objectives with wrongly recruited respondents and vice versa

The data generated from focus group studies can be voluminous. Listening to the accounts alone is
not suf cient and after the groups have been conducted, therein starts the job of making sense of
these accounts. It is the job of the analyst to bring together the ndings into clear frameworks

Focus groups have made a huge contribution to the business world. They can be criticized for their
subjectivity, for the small sample sizes and the purposive sampling methods that are used. However,
it must be remembered that each research design has its aws and the objective of the research is
crucial in determining the methods which are used to collect data. Quantitative methodologies have
their strengths in standardization, reliability, and measurement, usually through surveys with larger
sample sizes; however the qualitative focus group design has its strength in the richness of the data,
the ability to understand and explore perceptions, behaviors and motivations. It is not the type of
research that seeks to control and predict, rather it will provide understanding and insight, and it is
this very feature that gives the focus group its unique position as a research methodology
fi

fi

fl
.

fi
.

fi