Focus group in marketing research

"But for some reason in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy already well past midnight. When in Moscow there is free time with the participants of the event"»2. Computer set skills are absent in almost the majority of the population of Russia.3. Focus groups are designed for group discussion of topics. It is believed that with the traditional method of focus groups, social group processes identical to those that work in society are modeled. In other words, those 8-10 people who are present in the focus group become a "reduced" society, where everyone has their own social role, model of behavior, etc.For these group processes to work, you must have at least 5 respondents on the group. Experiments with the number of respondents on online Focus groups have shown that with a large number of people and a moderator is difficult to handle, simply do not have the time to communicate, respond to the statements of the respondents, to ask further questions and generally manage effectively the discussion.4. In conducting a traditional focus group, the role of the moderator is very important, it depends primarily on the quality of the data collected. He is obliged to constantly focus the attention of respondents on the topic, prevent them from deviating, stimulate the processes of group dynamics, and at the same time continuously keep the audience within the rules of the discussion. The moderator must have time to monitor the non-verbal behavior of respondents in order to respond in a timely manner to their physical and emotional state.Focus groups online, unfortunately, do not allow to achieve these goals. This is especially true for the control of non-verbal behavior of respondents, which is almost impossible. The moderator is not able to keep the audience's attention on the discussion. One urgently called the boss-he must leave, the other-went to pour himself tea, the third-a computer with a low-quality connection and often has to disconnect from the Internet. Despite many-the possibility of conducting quality surveys, their practical implementation at the moment represents serious difficulties. But perhaps it is a matter of the not too distantfuture. The first step should be to create databases of current and potential consumers of service companies that are seriously planning to engage in Internet Research. As it turns out from the above, the Internet, however, opens up many new opportunities for marketers and researchers. Approaching from an objective point of view to the issue of online surveys, it is necessary to highlight a number of advantages and disadvantages of Internet Research.Benefit:1. Geographic distance: ability to query respondents who live in geographically remote areas without leaving a moderator. In fact, the Internet allows access to residents of regions far from the headquarters of the study. But it should be borne in mind that a specific audience is Internet users in a certain region, not necessarily representing its population. That is, the subject of the study will probably always be limited to the area associated with the Internet. If, for example, try to collect online Focus groups of older beer consumers, for example, 40 years in some small regional town, even if there are such people who have access to the Internet, adequately evaluate the new label and, most importantly, the taste of the new beer they can not.2. Rate. There are many stages that are necessary for conducting a traditional survey. Once the questionnaire has been filled out, it must be sent to all local survey points (if it is a personal survey). Research agencies must also train interviewers, and interviews must be conducted for a certain period of time. The collected data must be processed supervisor field and sent to the head office, where these data are modified, entered into the computer and then, after the analysis, the results are communicated to the customer in the form of reports. From the writing of the questionnaire to the results, it takes an average of six weeks. When conducting a survey on the Internet, the questionnaire is posted on the site. Respondents are encouraged to participate in the study using a banner system on other websites or via email invitations. Often a fairly large sample can be questioned at the weekend.3. Eliminates the influence of the interviewer's personality if the interviewer is in a bad mood or does not perceive a certain type of people, does not like the topic under discussion, etc., all this affects the data received. When conducting surveys on the Internet, each respondent has the same interviewer who never gets tired, is not impatient or preconceived, and is always in a good mood.4. Relatively low financial costs. In each study there are two main financial components: data collection and their analysis. Often research is conducted only to find simple facts that require little or no analysis (for example, determining the preferences of various brands). However, the costs of data collection (survey) are almost always present, with the cost of data collection being the most expensive part of any research. For Internet Research, this cost is often reduced to zero.5. Possibility to use audio in visual material using multimedia tools. When you conduct an online survey, you can show respondents different product packaging options, templates, and so on.6. Using complex logical transitions to the questionnaire reduces the number of logical errors.7. The frankness of the respondent. The experience of American researchers also says that respondents on the Internet provide more honest answers without trying to please the interviewer.8. The availability of the questionnaire does not depend on the geographic location of the respondent.9. It takes less time to fill out a questionnaire than a traditional interview.10. Comfort. The respondent decides when to participate in the study, and this improves the quality of the responses.The disadvantages of online surveys include:1. Small spread of the Internet among most target groups.2. The amount of information you can get with online Focus groups. If you look at the quality of the connection to the Internet (often the respondents are connecting with a modem), and also the time that is spent for the formulation and printing of questions and answers, it turns out that the amount of information received this is not as great as you would like. On an online focus group, the moderator has time to discuss a block of questions in an hour and a half, which would take no more than 20 minutes on a traditional focus group. And do not forget that it would be 8-10 people, and not 4-5, present in online.3. Two-dimensional limitation of computer monitors.4. Difficulty verifying that respondents ' answers are correct.5. Video viewing issues and other technical limitations.6. Specificity of the internet audience.7. Therefore, the Internet presents ample opportunities for marketing researchers and, in the current conditions of the rapid development of the system of telecommunications, it is not possible to neglect this channel for collecting marketing information.8. Some reasons for the inefficient use of internet capabilities today: internet enterprises are often engaged in people not interested in the results of its use, and not specialists (computer scientists, secretaries, etc.). Incorrect statement of a problem in front of the Internet or a website or its lack. Lack of targeted and systematic work with the Internet or a website.Especially I would like to dwell on the risks that occur during the conduct of online Focus groups. The first and main risk is a small probability of a set of "right"representative respondents. The second significant risk is associated with objective causes-the low quality of telephone communications in Russia In general and the low quality of the Internet, including on dedicated channels.In this regard, completely unexpected external problems may occur that are almost impossible to predict and influence them. Many problems can also occur for respondents, who have-often dial-up access to the Internet (at low speeds, the line is busy, so communication with the provider is interrupted). The main hopes and reasons for efforts in the field of the internet today – the continued growth of sales via the Internet, the costs of network advertising, the increasing availability of the Internet and the growth of its capabilities. The rapid growth in the number of Internet projects, all of the new technological opportunities, and techniques (networks, banner ads, online shops, Internet databases, etc), the growth of competition of the suppliers and, consequently, the fall in the Prices of services, etc., This market is growing and, unlike others, is growing constantly and very quickly. Therefore, the search for services using the Internet is a rather promising direction. Based on the above, we can conclude that currently in Russia there is such an approach to research, as conducting online Focus groups, but compared with traditional methods of research, it is being adapted to Russian conditions. That's why online Focus groups have more disadvantages than traditional methods than advantages. However, this does not mean that online Focus groups in general will remain in theory, rather than acquire a global practical application. Probably the last will happen only after a qualitative leap in the development of the Internet, in which each user will be able to transfer large video streams. Perhaps it will no longer be the Internet, but technical solutions for mobile communications or video conferencing. But it is online focus groups with the use of videos that can solve most of these problems and approach the traditional method of focus groups.Meanwhile, the main approach to traditional research methods are online forum groups. Apparently, it is in the form of a forum should organize a fruitful discussion, which should take place among a specially selected audience for several days. If such an "extensive" group will involve people interested in the topic under discussion, then by asking the right questions, the marketer will have a chance to get a lot of useful information.It is likely that the quality of the information collected in this way can be greatly improved by adapting for the Internet the projective techniques used in the conduct of traditional focus groups.Of course, online Forum groups are not an alternative to the traditional focus group method. However, it could still change, and the appropriate option will be developed through the continuous development of Internet technologies, including the creation of new environments for online communication.ConclusionAs a result of the work on this course, the theoretical and methodological basis of the focus group method was described.After analyzing the literary sources, we studied the history of the development and use of focus groups; we determined the influence of the subjective factor on the use of the method, examined the role of the moderator in conducting the discussion, and also studied the essence and role of online focus groups.The focus group not only allows you to collect the necessary information, but also allows you to create and strengthen a good name from the clients of a non-governmental organization.Currently, in developed countries," flexible " survey methods have become not only a kind of research methods, but also a branch of industry that serves the functioning of market institutions and democratic institutions.The introduction into the practice of these methods in Russia is necessary to improve the work culture of market and political institutions.Now we can say that Focus groups have become an essential element of market research and, more generally, an important element of the functioning of market institutions and democracy.Thus, the focus group method allows you to obtain rich empirical data. This is facilitated by the ability presented to respondents to use their own language to discuss a problematic situation; a group discussion environment that gives participants a sense of security and security, making their answers more explicit. An important advantage of the focus group is the modeling of the situation of social interaction, during which participants rebuild their attitude to the problem. A fair attitude allows you to see the problem through the eyes of the respondent and give him a more complete interpretation.Thus, the method of Focus groups has a wide cognitive range, since it can be used not only to confirm available assumptions, but also to obtain new information. Literature1.R. Merton, P. Kendall, M. Fiske "focused interview". - M 2015.2.G. A. Churchill " market research "and"Peter". – 2012.3.K. Malhotra " market research. Practical Guide, 3rd edition". - Moscow 2012.4.Article B. Doctorov " online surveys: the routine of the next century”.5.M. 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