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Phil Glowatz and Associates - new products, branding, positioning, repositioning, marketing experts.
Insights into consumer attitudes and needs can help you craft successful new products, repositionings and other marketing strategies. But, the art of insight isn't easy. Here are some suggestions that may help you get better results--and gain sharper insights--from focus groups:
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1. Don't Bias Respondents Before They React to Concepts.
This is perhaps the most common error we see in qualitative new product work. In the typical scenario, the moderator leads a 20 - 40 minute discussion of product category usage, problems and needs. Then, after that "warm up" time, the moderator introduces new product or positioning concepts to the group. Conducting the discussion in this order can bias respondents in
two significant ways:
- Respondents become pre-sold to certain concepts through the general category discussion, during which they commit themselves, in effect, to "their" problems. Then, when concepts that address those problems are shown, respondents almost cannot help but like them.
- Respondents become "educated" to the category as they listen to others. Thus, when the concepts are shown, they are thinking about the product category in ways they normally would not.
2. Listen With Your Eyes.
Observe body language and facial expressions. When respondents say they'll buy your product, do they seem truly excited? When they reject a concept, do they show any emotion, suggesting you've touched a nerve, or do they just look bored? Do their faces suggest they understand your copy, or are there wrinkled brows? These observations often count for more than consumers' actual spoken words.
3. Listen to The Hands.
The moderator shows a new product/positioning concept to the group, asks who wants to buy it, and six or seven of the eight hands go up. The mistake is in believing each of those hands expresses the same degree of purchase interest. They do not! It is important to differentiate the degrees of enthusiasm respondents have for the ideas by looking beyond the mere fact they raise their hands. For instance, the ways in which the hands are raised are telling indicators of
respondents' true levels of interest:
- The Slow Hand. This hand takes its time going up, or goes up only after several others have been raised, and may mean commitment is minimal, or is influenced by other participants ("I see other hands going up, so I’ll raise mine, too.").
- The Twitchy Hand. This hand rotates back and forth at the wrist as it's being raised--often slowly--so chances are this consumer really means "I'm not sure."
- The Fast Hand. This hand shoots up quickly, and may reveal excitement. Fast Hands are the types of positive responses you have to see--across several groups--before you can judge a concept truly
well-received.
4. Don't Take "Yes" For An Answer.
When most or all respondents in a group say they want your new product, do not stop there and assume you have a winner. Near-unanimous purchase interest simply does not exist in the real world. Indeed, respondents can be promiscuous in "voting" for concepts, because no money is changing hands, thus no real commitment is necessary. So, probe beyond the positive reaction. Ask if respondents are sure they want your product, and listen for a convincing reason why. If the product is somewhat similar to others, why do they need it, and what is its key benefit relative to other choices? Reasons for purchase interest must be challenged. This may make the marketing and research managers feel uneasy in the viewing room, but they would feel even worse if a so-so product flopped in the marketplace.
5. Don't Tune Out Too Early.
After a focus group, keep watching until all respondents have left the room. That's because they may approach the moderator and make a meaningful "off the record" comment. Or they may try to get another
taste of that food prototype they liked. It all happens after the tape stops rolling, yet it might be more telling than anything in the previous two hours.
6. Listen To Your Inner Voice.
Take consumers' assertions of their behavior with a big grain of salt. What they claim and what they really do are often at odds, so using your marketing knowledge is key. For instance, most respondents will claim they read ingredient labels, and that advertising doesn't affect them, yet we know the opposite is more likely to be the case. Again, have the moderator challenge to get closer to the truth.
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