Transcript Chapter 10
Internet Marketing Intelligence Chapter 10 Online Focus Groups Copyright 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest 10-1 Objectives • Provide an understanding of general nature of focus group research and how to conduct focus groups on and through the Internet. • Delineate the advantages and disadvantages of Internet focus groups. • List Internet-based organisations that allow researchers to participate in online focus groups. • List Internet-based organisations that can be employed to conduct online focus groups. • Discuss a range of resources that may be used to learn more about online focus groups. Copyright 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest 10-2 Definition of Online Focus Groups • Qualitative research performed through the Internet involves gathering data from freeformat responses elicited by open-ended responses to in-depth and subjective observations. • Qualitative research is used to measure experiences, emotions, opinions and other non-quantitative data. Copyright 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest 10-3 Benefits of the Internet • • • • Lack of geographic barriers Much lower costs Faster turnaround time Increased openness of respondents Copyright 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest 10-4 Advantages of Online Focus Groups • Financial: • no facility costs • no catering required • transcripts of discussions are available within minutes of completing the session • incentive payments may be reduced • no travel costs involved Copyright 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest 10-5 Advantages of Online Focus Groups • Efficiency: • session conducted in a very short time period • field, transcripts and data analysis times are reduced • time and place are convenient for participants • Diversity of group participants: • participants are recruited from diverse geographic locations and different social and demographic groups • reduced problem of anonymity of group members • consumers who are too busy or dislike group participation can be persuade to join a discussion Copyright 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest 10-6 Advantages of Online Focus Groups (cont.) • • • • • • • Participation Time commitment Openness of respondents Recruitment of respondents Communication with moderator Client involvement Online groups easier to moderate Copyright 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest 10-7 Advantages of Online Focus Groups (cont.) • Bulletin-board style allows for participation on respondents schedule • More available in certain places than telephone conferencing facilities • Can be used to corroborate findings from in-person groups—done in only one or two markets Copyright 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest 10-8 Problems with Online Focus Groups • • • • • • • Group dynamics Non-verbal inputs Client involvement Security Attention to the topic Exposure to external stimuli Role and skill of the moderator Copyright 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest 10-9 Key Point • Online focus groups are most effective when qualitative feedback is needed quickly, participants are from widely dispersed locations, and/or ideas for questions to be included in a quantitative survey are needed. Copyright 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest 10-10 Online focus group scenario • • • • • Identify respondents Screen/contact respondents Give instructions Use a chat-room window Show an image about which an opinion is needed Copyright 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest 10-11 Web sites to Help Conduct a Focus Group • Custom Forum http://www.delphi.com/dirdelphi/ • ParaChat http://www.parachat.com/chat1.htm/ Copyright 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest 10-12 Online Focus Groups • Cyber Dialogue http://members.cyberdialogue.com/inde x.html • iCameo http://www.icameo.com/ • Paid2Survey.Com http://www.paid2survey.com/ Copyright 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest 10-13 Organisations • Greenfield Online http://www.greenfield.com/ • conducts online focus groups and recruits participants • CustomerSat, Inc. http://www.customersat.com/index.html • provides free market research resources • SurveySite http://www.surveysite.com/ • online focus groups as part of overall research approach Copyright 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest 10-14 Metadexes of Market Research Firms • The Greenbook http://www.greenbook.org/ • @ResearchInfo.com http://www.researchinfo.com/ • Volition http://volition.com/opinions.html/ Copyright 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest 10-15 Summary • Many research firms are now conducting qualitative research on and through the Internet. • Online focus groups often provide a faster and cheaper means of collecting qualitative data than using the real-world equivalent. Copyright 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest 10-16