Editor's note: Amy J. Yoffie is president of Research Connections, Inc., Westfield, N.J. Marj Anzalone is president of Marj Anzalone Research, Florham Park, N.J.
"Why not acknowledge that technology inevitably giveth and taketh away and therefore try from the outset to magnify the benefits and minimize the costs?" This quotation from a recent article in the New York Times Magazine by Max Frankel illustrates our perspective on the current debate among marketing researchers: What is the value of on-line research and, in particular, on-line focus groups? While Tom Greenbaum stated in his article "Focus groups on the Internet: an interesting idea but not a good one" (QMRR, May 1995) that focus groups on the Internet - and by implication any on-line groups - are "not likely to result in effective focus group research," we believe that there is a place for on-line qualitative research and that researchers can successfully add it to their menu of available methodologies.
Less expensive
As with most marketing research projects, the starting point for our position is a cost-benefit analysis: on-line focus groups are less expensive than traditional groups. One obvious reason is that moderators and clients don't have to travel anywhere to participate. Given the high cost of air travel, rental cars and hotels, the savings can be substantial. Incentive payments to respondents, which also have increased in recent years, can be reduced as it costs the respondent little or nothing to dial in and they do not have to travel to attend. These savings can be put aside for other research projects or, better yet, used to increase the number of groups held and to allow for more geographically dispersed respondents, thereby obtaining more information than would be collected from in-person groups.
As to where the groups are conducted, there is a valid concern about holding them in a location where others might "wander in." While it may be difficult prevent such occurrence on the Internet, it possible to designate a private discussion area on the commercial on-line services. Furthermore, it is not as if people can join the group without being "seen." Their screen name appears and a trained moderator will be aware that this has occurred and ask the intruder to leave before proceeding. Another option for maintaining privacy is to use a private bulletin board where only authorized respondents and clients can participate.
Moderating on-line groups is a very different process than moderating traditional groups. While we acknowledge that the face-to-face interaction of an in-person group is lost, a skilled on-line moderator can ensure that the group is successful by establishing rules of participation which control the flow of the group. Key issues would be probed and discussed, and passive respondents would be encouraged to participate, just as in an in-person group.
Dial in from her desk
On-line focus groups also have an internal value to companies. When was the last time your CEO attended a focus group? When did your budget last allow for more than one or two staff members to be present? When the focus groups are on-line, all the CEO has to do to attend is dial in from her desk. She then can see first-hand what is being said and what the hot issues are, and a phone link to the moderator enables her and other staff people to request that certain points be explored in more depth. Allowing multiple staff members to observe generates excitement about the research they have requested. This internal PR raises awareness at all levels about the importance and value of research to marketing plans and results in a greater commitment to all types of marketing research.
Some people object to focus groups because respondents cannot yet see a video or other visual stimuli on-line. The solution is to send such materials to them either for prior viewing or for viewing during the group. Having a "piece of the research" in their hands underlines to respondents the seriousness of their task, even as it generates enthusiasm and commitment to dial in and participate.
Enthusiasm and commitment to focus groups are especially difficult to achieve with survey-weary and hard-to-reach respondents. Physicians, MIS personnel, senior business executives, and teens - to name a few - have numerous demands on their time and often are not willing to drive to and participate in a two-hour group. When they learn that all they have to do to participate is dial in - and that they can do so from home or from the office - participation rates increase dramatically. The result is refreshed, attentive respondents.
Statistical validity?
Some have questioned the statistical validity of on-line groups. This seems specious to us, since no focus group is designed to yield quantitative results. Rather, they are used to add more information to the creative process and to learn the language of the population being surveyed. As to the issue of whether participants represent their population, it should be noted that the types of hard-to-survey respondents mentioned earlier generally have ready access to computer and modems.
Finally, as marketing researchers we have a responsibility to constantly explore new ways of gathering data and not be bound by traditional research methods. The on-line focus group should be viewed as one more very useful and cost-effective research tool, particularly when we want to talk to lots of people, to hard-to-reach respondents, and to those who are geographically dispersed. It is a powerful qualitative data collection technique which can help us to understand what our customers are thinking and why they are thinking it, which, after all, is our mission. Our charge, then, is to become proficient at using this tool and to use it when appropriate, or as Max Frankel states, "magnify the benefits and minimize the costs."