Online Focus Groups Compared To Traditional Focus Groups

2007-03-08 10:33:40

( Web Hosting-SEO-Web Design )



Focus groups are a group of people organized to give their personal feedback and opinions regarding a product or a company. It is important that the members of the focus group are not affiliated or employed with the company to ensure that their opinions are unbiased.

With the advancement of technology, the traditional focus group may be eschewed in favor of telephone focus groups and online focus groups. Traditional focus groups require all members of the focus group to be physically present in one location while a facilitator moderates the session. With telephone focus groups and online focus groups, the members’ physical presence is not necessary.

Telephone and online focus groups are best for obtaining opinions of a group of people who may be geographically dispersed. These may also be people who have characteristics that are of low incidence and those who may need to be in their natural environment to complete the focus group questions.

In the age of the Internet, online focus groups are the most affordable and convenient way to gather opinions. The success of online focus groups is largely dependent on the online facilitation. There is definitely greater anonymity when it comes to online focus groups, making respondents more comfortable with sharing their views. However, the online facilitator still has to encourage the participants to explain their views thoroughly. Since online focus groups lack the advantage of tone of voice and facial expressions, it may be easy to misinterpret someone’s opinions.

Another advantage of online focus groups is the online group calendar. This allows for participation on the schedule of the respondents through a bulletin board, making it easier to transcend any boundaries of time and place.

Most companies are still a little skeptical of online focus groups since the participants need to be familiar with the use of computers to participate. On the other hand, if your company intends to make the computer literate segment of the population your target market, then online focus groups are best for you.


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