What Is a Focus throng? Definition and navigator

A focus throng is a trade research way that brings together 6-10 people in a room to provide feedback regarding a product, service, concept, or marketing campaign.

A trained moderator leads a 30-90-minute talk within the throng that is designed to gather helpful information. The moderator arrives with a set list of 10-12 questions that will be shared with the throng during their period together that are designed to elicit considerate responses from all the participants. The moderator’s objective is to listen from everyone and to inspire many different opinions and ideas to be shared.

Focus throng participants are recruited based on their purchase history, demographics, psychographics, or behavior and typically do not recognize each other. To ensure that the maximum number of different ideas or reactions have been captured from participants, companies typically hold several focus groups, often in different cities; 3-4 is ordinary.

While participants are responding to a moderator question, the moderator and/or other observers receive notes.

history

Formerly referred to as “concentrated interviews,” focus groups were first used during globe War II to assess reactions to radio programming. Today the technique has been expanded to assess customer perceptions and reactions.

Focus throng format

During the focus throng, the moderator takes participants through three different types of questions designed to gather as much information from them as feasible. They include:

1. Engagement questions: These are straightforward questions posed early on to introduce the participants to each other, to make them more at ease, and to familiarize them with the topic to be discussed, whether it’s reacting to a recent ad campaign for coffee or thinking about self-driving cars.
2. discovery questions: Once participants have begun to relax and open up in the throng, the moderator begins to inquire deeper, probing questions about the topic and how the participants feel about it. These might include, “What makes you declare that?” “and “What would be a better answer?”
3. Exit questions: After the moderator is confident the throng has shared all that it can, wrap-up questions are posed to confirm that everything has been said. These might include, “Is there anything I haven’t asked that I should have?”

Pros

Focus groups are one type of trade research way that are popular because they:

• Are generally lower expense than other methods
• Can generate results very quickly
• Are straightforward to conduct
• Can supplement verbal responses with body language and other non-verbal cues
• Information gathered is in respondents’ own words, which is more accurate
• Technique is flexible and can be adjusted based on throng behavior

Cons

Because a focus throng involves multiple participants, the downsides of using this technique are generally related to the interactions between participants:

• Participants can be influenced by others in the throng
• Domineering participants can skew the results
• Results from a tiny throng can’t always be generalized to a larger population

Types of focus groups

Within the general category of focus groups are more specific types of groups that are designed for different scenarios. Some of these include:

• Mini focus groups: Fewer participants are used, bringing the number down from 6-12 to four or five consumers.
• Online focus groups: Consumers log into a website using video gossip and participate remotely.
• Two-way focus throng: Focus groups are often conducted behind one-way glass, where researchers can receive note of what’s going on. In these types of groups, the whole throng watches another and comments on what they observe and listen.
• Dual moderator focus throng: Instead of one moderator in the room, there are two—one to facilitate the talk and the other to receive notes.
• Client participant focus throng: When a representative of the corporation or product being studied watches or participates in the talk.

In terms of collecting qualitative data from multiple respondents, focus groups are a popular trade research tool.