A focus group is method of quantitative research in which a group of people are asked about their perceptions about a product and other aspects related to the product like its packaging, service idea, advertising and service. An interactive group is formed and participants are free to talk with other group members ,so basically a discussion group is formed and people are led towards discussing various aspects about a product or service .Ernest Dichter coined this term and now it is one of the most popular method to estimate and measure consumer satisfaction.
The importance of focus group in various fields is briefed as follows:
In marketing
Focus groups are used to acquire feedback regarding new product, as well as various topics in the field of business marketing. This is helpful for the new companies that are planning to develop some new product. It helps them to discuss about it as well as test it before it is launched. The information so derived is priceless and provides a lot of information about the potential market acceptance of the product.
In social sciences
Through focus groups people in the field of social sciences and urban planning can study people in a more natural setting than a one-to-one interview. The duscussions through focus group can be used for gaining access to various cultural and social groups and to explore unexpected issues. Focus groups are cost effective and yield quick and believable results.
Traditional focus groups
In traditional focus groups respondents are screened in a room to ensure that they are part of the relevant target market and they are representative of subgroup of this market segment. The group consists of usually 6 to 10 members and the session usually lasts for 1 to 2 hours. A moderator is there to lead and facilitate the group discussion which is observed by clients from behind through a one-way mirror.
The video tape of discussion can be made which can be used by researchers to examine more than the spoken words. Additional information is gained through interpretation of facial expressions, body language, and group dynamics. Information gained from this group dynamics is invaluable and give researchers a precise insight into the minds of respondents
The various kinds of focus groups are as follows, the names are generally self explanatory:
2-way focus group
Dual or double moderator focus group
Dueling moderators focus group
Respondent moderators focus group
Client participation focus groups
Mini or micro focus groups
Teleconferencing focus groups
Online focus groups
Enterprise feedback management (EFM) is nothing but a systematic collection of processes and software. It assists in managing the surveys centrally and facilitates the easy dispersion of authorization and analysis studies throughout an organization. A typical EFM system works by assigning different roles and permission levels to different types of users, such as setting up a unique profile for novice survey authors, survey reporters, professional survey authors and translators.
EFM can assist an organization by establishing a smooth and streamlined communication channel between employees, partners, and customers for easy flow of dialogue regarding key issues and concerns. EFM is a bundle of data collection, analysis and reporting strategies.
Prior to EFM the survey software used in this lacked user roles, permissions and workflow that made the task a bit clumsy. It has become easier for an organization, through the use of EFM to provide the right data to the decision makes. These people use this information which in turn increases customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. EFM enables companies to view consumers as a collective “holistic” and integrated unit so that they are in better position to respond to customer needs.
A survey done by Gartner projects reports that 40% of the total feedback system that is deployed in the year 2008 will be implemented through EFM
EFM software has capabilities to support advanced survey design .It also has tools to incorporate CRM integration with sophisticated tools to generate advanced reports rich with statistical analysis. It is also equipped with a centralized panel management and workflow process to ensure superior survey quality at all times, at the same time respondent privacy and IT security policies are also withheld. It has feature to additionally club multiple departments within an organization so that they can collaborate on survey initiatives, share the findings of the survey and gain precious information that has potential to impact their bottom-line results.
Website is another innovative means of collecting customer feedback. Through the company website customers can be presented with opportunities to express their feelings about the product or service at the time of purchase or at later stage. The feedback may be as freeform text or by selecting from a number of choices on a form. After this step Enterprise Feedback Management software can prompt customer service representatives when these web-based customer surveys indicate that customers are unhappy with the product. Account managers can then take pre-emptive actions to increase the level of satisfaction in the customer by modifying the product.
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