Editor’s note: "War Stories" is a semi-regular feature in which Art Shulman, president of Shulman Research, Van Nuys, Calif., presents humorous stories of life in the research trenches.
Gail Fleenor reports that during a recent focus group about the different supermarket chains in an area, one woman boldly asserted, "I shop store XYZ when I’m having company to dinner." This comment came on the heels of other group comment about the store’s off-brand merchandise and its perceived lack of quality.
The moderator pursued this woman’s interesting comment. Did she really think the off-brand products were better? "No," the woman said. "They’re cheaper. But I wouldn’t shop there for my family. I just shop there when I have company because they’ll never know the difference."
Fleenor also tells about a woman in a recent focus group about supermarket chains who claimed her husband wanted to shop at a particular supermarket which she detested. When asked why hubby insisted on shopping there, she said, "He buys cat litter there. He’s very particular about his cat litter!"
Fleenor related another story about a discussion on meat departments at various supermarket chains which led to an amazing discovery. When group participants were discussing how they choose meat, it turned out that color was a popular decision factor. One woman pooh-poohed this factor. "You know that all stores put some kind of red dye liquid on the meat to make it that color, don’t you?" she said, in all sincerity.
Ron Sellers reports receiving a call at work from an interviewer doing a study for a hotel industry trade group. At Sellers’ company, phones are clearly answered with "Ellison Research." The interviewer’s first question was, "Does anyone in your household work for a marketing research company or a hotel?"
"This is a marketing research company," Sellers told her.
Silence.
"And I’m president of the company," he added.
More silence. Catching on to the fact that she was waiting for the required
"yes" or "no" answer, Sellers said, "So...I guess I’d have to say yes, someone in my household DOES work for a marketing research company." She thanked Sellers and terminated the interview.
"Oy," remarks Sellers.
Jerry, a computer engineer and a friend of mine who lives in Wappinger Falls, N.Y., reports getting a phone call from a company doing a survey about local issues. The interviewer was reading her questionnaire verbatim, saying things like, "As you know we’ve had a number of controversial political issues here in Wappinger Falls recently..."
My friend, detecting something amiss since the interviewer had a deep Southern drawl, asked, "Where are you calling from?"
"Georgia," was the reply.
"I thought so!" said Jerry.
"How could you tell?" she asked.
"You talk slow," Jerry informed her.
Hal Meier is with TAI Companies, a firm that operates focus group facilities. A client wished to conduct focus groups with people who had undergone a certain form of heart bypass surgery. The client provided a list of such patients, with phone numbers. Meier’s company diligently began calling these people, but wasn’t successful in putting together the group. Turns out that almost everyone on the list was no longer living.
I suppose if the purpose of the group was to get a handle on customer satisfaction, they had the answer right there.