I was part of a focus group

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

And it was interesting. A while ago, a coworker asked me if I was interested in being part of a smoker’s focus group. I said sure, but it turned out that they had enough people by the time I called. That was about six months ago.

So yesterday, they called me and asked if I wanted to be part of a makeup focus group. They gave me the details, and told me to show up at 5:00. 2 hour session, cash paid at the end: 100 smackeroos. Being that it’s the day before payday, and I’m horrendously broke, I jumped at the chance.

I really enjoyed myself. As I said, the theme was makeup (with heavy emphasis on a particular brand of makeup). What did we like, what didn’t we like. If “Brand” was a party, what kind of party would it be? Flip through magazines and pull pages that represent the same thing that “Brand” represents to you. They asked for our impressions of different ads, which we liked, which we didn’t and why. There was a two way mirror, behind which were Brand marketing people looking on.

The group itself was a veritable Benetton ad: a woman who appeared to be an Italian socialite type; a perky high school guidance counselor; a Russian girl; a blond-haired, celebrity worshipping Everygirl; a very pregnant woman; a smart-yet-hip black woman, and myself.

It was just a neat experience; an opportunity to voice my opinions, a chance to chat with a bunch of women, and free samples at the end. And the 100 bucks for 2 hours of my time just made it even better.

So I celebrated by taking a bike cab to the train station, which in itself was fun. Of course, I forgot to ask how much he charged, so when we got to Grand Central, he said “I would have told you 20, you would have asked for 10, and we would have compromised at 15.” Being all cheerful and generous, (and feeling a little guilty that he had to lug my heavy butt downtown) I gave him $18.

Fun night :slight_smile:

2

No one ever asks me to be in a focus group. It must show in my face that I have little respect for the science of marketing and might well give in to the impulse to amuse myself at their expense. “What I’d like to know, Mr. Moderator, is why everyone can make a telephone that fits in your palm but nobody can make one that smells like fresh popcorn?” “I like this chainsaw - it reminds me of the last time I saw my parents, God rest their souls.” “I don’t know. This is just the kind of product Stalin might use if he had dull, lifeless hair.” “Well, I’d sign up for your service without hesitation, but Grandmother says – yes, Grandmother, I’m telling them. Yes, I’m trying to tell them right now, if you’ll…Grandmother, I won’t do that, I’m just going to tell them what you said…Grandmother…FOR PITY’S SAKE SHUT UP YOU MOULDERING HAG…I’M NOT GOING TO DO THAT AGAIN, THESE ARE NICE PEOPLE…OKAY NOW YOU’VE DONE IT…Grandmother says she’d like an opt-out clause that kicks in after the first three months.”

Juvenile, I know, but I’ve read that the perpetrators of focus groups don’t believe what they’re told anyway, so I wouldn’t feel too guilty.

3

I’ve done a few of those groups. Never got paid anything like $100 for it, though.

4

I did a focus group once.

It was for a company working on a commerical about The Importance of Using Seatbelts!!!1111!!!

They showed us the drawing boards of several commerical ideas and then a few basic video commericals they had quickly made up using Celebrities that had died or were grievously injured because they were not wearing seat belts. Princess Diana was the big one, and Red Wing Defensemen Vladimir Konstantinov & Sergi Manatakonov ( sp?) who were horribly hurt in 1997.

Everyone in the room was like, " Ooooooh that is effective…I like that pretty pretty video…" Sheep.
I said, " Well, Princess Diana was in a Mercedes that was bullet proof and reinforced steel and being chaufferred around ( by a supposed) drunk) and being chased by paparazzi. That is not The Real World. It would not in the least way make me care about putting on my seatbelt if I was not a wearer.

Secondly, the Red Wings Limo Accident happened because the driver was on some drugs ( pot or booze, I think.) and the three guys in back Did eveyrthing they were suppose to do …they rented a limo so they could enjoy the event they went to. Again, this isn’t Real Life. MOst of us cannot afford a limo in that capacity. They just didn’t put on their seat belts. Only one was not badly harmed, the other two suffered life changing injuries. That is a one in three chance of not being injured. Really, it is better than the lottery. I’d take that chance if I was so inclined." [size=1] Besides, their injuries were bad, but the paramedics that took care of them farked up with the oxygen or something and that was what caused the seriousness of injuries moreso. Mr. Ujests Boss golfs with the lawyer for the Red Wings and got this info first hand. So now you know…blah blah blah.)
Afterwards, the Lead Guy caught up with me and said he really liked how I thought.

Can’t remember how much money I made from that. Probably $50.

5

I’d love to do focus groups as a living. I did a nice group last year for a new Microsoft product, and got $150 for 2 hours. Last month, I did one for Intel and got $200 for 2 hours!

They’re surprisingly fun, but the two-way mirror creaps me out.

Any idea how to get on them more often?

6

I’ve never been part of a real life focus group, but I do make around twenty bucks a month filling out questionnaires for Pinecone Research. It’s good work if you can swing it. I think they’re mostly looking for males now though.

7

I must be on all the right lists. I get calls for these all the time. Its never less than about $40 an hour. I’ve done beer tasting, video game prototyping, magazine layouts and a bunch more.

Here’s a hint. They always overbook these things in order to have the minimum number of participants. They accept people for the group on a first-arrived, first-in-the-group basis. For most of these focus groups, however, I’m really just there for the check. If you arrive at the last minute, you stand a good chance of getting your check and being dismissed. Don’t be late, though. You won’t get paid. I would know.

And this never gets dull:
During a break, a group participant will always go up the the mirror/window and, using their hands to shield the group room’s light, try to peer into the observation room. Of course, the observers know just what to do…Give a sharp knock on the glass. The peerer, startled, always jumps back and hilarity ensues.

8

dasgupta, I’ve done multiple focus groups and I have always been chosen exactly the same way - I’ll agree to do a telephone survey. Most people won’t. At the end of the survey, they ask a few qualifying questions and if you meet the criteria, they offer they opportunity to do a focus group. Most in this area are around 2 hours and usually pay around $50 (plus free snacks).

continuity error, how on earth are you getting enough surveys to make $20 a month with Pinecone? I’ve been with them for years and get a survey every 4 to 6 weeks at $5 a pop.

9

I was in a focus group once. It was for 3G phones, long before they ever came to market. We played with prototypes, were asked questions about the physical layout of the phones, whether we preferred touch-screen phones instead of phones with regular buttons on them etc.

There was a questionnaire handed out at the end. If you finished it quickly, and went outside quickly, they shuffled the first ten people into another focus group. This one focussed on business applications for the phones.

All up, I walked out with $150 in cash. I would definitely do it again.

Max.

10

Aha…maybe I’ll actually do the survey next time they ask. I usually tell them to go away.

I was part of a focus group about 15 years ago. I think they sent me a letter and didn’t tell me how they found me, but it was probably because I was a member of my local public radio station. It turned out to be for “Echoes, with John Diliberto.” Who’da thought that type of show would do focus groups? They played different music snippets and had us fill out a survey or something. I’ve never really liked the show, but didn’t mind getting paid to listen to music. As I recall, they paid pretty well. I think it was $25 for less than 2 hours. (I made about $7.50/hour at the time, so it was excellent money.)

GT

11

King of Soup, I’m an evil marketing manager. I’ve sponsered many focus groups. If anyone acts up or starts smarting off (or even dominates the group too much), the moderator should ask them to leave. They get paid anyway, so usually they don’t mind.

I wouldn’t say that we don’t believe what the focus groups tell us. It’s just that it’s not a large enough sample to extrapolate what they say to our general market. We use them for qualitative feedback. The kind of thing that’s more in depth and interactive than a survey. However, you have to be really careful that you don’t assume everyone feels the way the focus group does because, as I said, it’s a very small sample. In fact, I’ve found more people make that mistake (assuming the focus group is representative of the population) than decide not to believe it.

Of course, there’s always the problem that people hear what they want to hear. If a marketing manager is dead set on a certain course of action, no matter what the focus group says, they’ll interpret it as supporting that action. But they often do that for the quantitative research too.

Ways I’ve used focus groups:

  • To see how consumers use a product prototype or brochure: do they understand it, what do they do with it first, what do they pay attention to.
  • To help in putting together quantitative research. For example the OP mentioned that she was asked what type of party certain brands represented to her. We could take the focus group feedback and use that to determine our options in a quantitative survey.
  • To identify any potential issues with new ads or products. We’ll show focus groups ad concepts and see how they react to them. We may not be able to assume everyone will react to the ads in the same way, but it does give us clues as to whether the ad is going to offend anyone, shock them, or totally miss the mark.

I haven’t had to do this, but some people will use a focus group to do really quick damage control. For example, if something negative comes out about your company, you can pull in a focus group to see how best to address the negative publicity. It’s not scientific, but often it’s the only feedback you can get quickly. Scientific surveys may take too long to complete and analyze, so you take what you can get and do the best you can.

If you want to get on a focus group, your best bet is to be in the demographic or customer group that we’re looking for. That’s going to vary by product, so no good clues there. Don’t work in marketing, advertising, etc. We don’t want them since it’s assumed they have inside knowlege about how focus groups work and will taint the group. Also, we don’t want people who work in our particular industry unless their our traget group (e.g. we do want IT people if we’re selling a product for them, but we don’t want people working in financial services to participate in a focus group about mortgages).

Some focus group companies maintain a list of people who are willing to participate. Going to one increases your odds of getting called again. However, if you do too many, you’ll be screened out (too much experience with how they work may taint the group). Other than that, we get participants by calling lists of people likely to be in our customer group. So if you work to keep yourself off of mailing lists etc., you’re not likely to be called. However, some companies like to call groups of their own customers, so there’s a chance your bank, etc. may call you in.

The people sitting on the other side of the mirror are mostly pigging out on snacks and candy. There’s always tons of that stuff available. It keeps us occupied and quiet, I guess.

12

MaddyStrut, my joke was meant to be harmless and not applicable to any real-world situation. I am sincerely sorry for any insult or offense. I actually admire the technical virtuosity by which we are kept believing that there are enough technical, practical differences in, say, soap, to keep a hundred different varieties on the shelves. I’ll bet I could sucker a less-savvy moderator than you with the Stalinesque-shampoo line, though.

Also, thanks very much for the behind-the-one-way-mirror view.

13

I’ve done about 2 dozen focus groups over the past 10 years on products from toothbrushes to roofing materials. I used to be the chief engineer for an office building that had a focus group company as a tenant. Being in the building 5 days a week and being devilishly handsome, witty, well-read, charming and modest :D, I got quite a few opportunities to make a quick buck.
I also got to see what went on behind the mirror. It’s generally a very nicely carpeted, very dark room with way more comfortable chairs than what the focus group has. And yeah, there’s tons of snacks, especially M&Ms for some reason.

Probably the most interesting (and best paying) group I participated in was sponsored by a large American airline company, who was being sued by a rental company that offered Budget prices, but no names ;). I think there were 150 people in the group. It was held at a Four Seasons hotel banquet room and dinner was provided. It was essentially a mock trial. We watched a video of a lawyer give the airline’s side for an hour, filled out a 75 question questionnaire and then did the same for the rental car company. This group paid $150 and I think they had 4 of them. 4 x 150 x $150 plus dinner plus banquet room reservation plus focus group company fees = alottacash! Two days later, it was announced that the airline was settling out of court with the rental company. And I helped!

BTW, at the focus group company I attend, when the group is overbooked, they tend to pay off the people who arrived first and let them go home. This has happened to me several times. Eeeeasy money. :slight_smile:

14

King of Soup, no worries! I got the joke. I was trying to play along with the “evil marketer” comment–I guess that didn’t come through in text. Hey, I don’t work for a consumer products company anyway, and those that sell soap often think they’re better than us since they do “real” marketing. So, please, mock away! It will give me ammo!

I’ve never moderated a focus group. We pay a professional moderator for that. Good ones are able to keep a conversation on track and shut down the participants who try to dominate it–without offending anyone. I can’t do that. Plus, I’d probably laugh at the Stalinesque shampoo line!