Q. You said there are some times NOT to do Focus Groups or Individual Depth Interviews (IDI’s). Can you tell me more?

A. The majority of calls I get from prospective clients start out with “Let’s do some groups.” At least one-third of them wind up doing a different type of research after we spend some time talking about what they need to find out.

Why are Focus Groups and IDI’s so popular? They are a very visible, hands-on technique. Clients can be right there, see their customers and hear them react in person, tweak the questions (or the new product, ad, etc. being tested) between groups. For most marketers, this is much more exciting than reading a research printout.

But although Focus Groups and IDI’s can provide high-quality input for many marketing applications and decisions, there are situations in which they are not the “right thing” to do.

The most important is when numbers are needed. Focus Groups and IDI’s don’t provide any projectable numbers. So, if there are questions of demographics (what is the average age/income/education level/etc. of our customers?) or segment behavior (how many of our customers use liquid hand soap?), a different type of research needs to be explored.

Do you have a comment or research-related question? Send it to me for future FAQs!