Market reserach online community versus focus group

Dr. Martin Zuber

Market research online community (MROC) versus focus group

GOR122 |Seite | ipi Institute für Produkt-Markt-Forschung | www.ipi.de

1. Company Profile an Research Background

2. Research Questions and Study Design

3. Results

4. Summary and Recommendation for future research

Agenda for GOR12 in Mannheim - 2012-03-07

1. Company Profile and Research Background


Objective product

testing including

product application in

physical labs

Many competences from one source

Full-Service Market

Research in Germany,

Europe and beyond

Market Research Product Lab

We provide solid information sources for product managers, developers,

marketing managers and consumer organizations

2 competence centers

2 perspectives

1 aim

Foundation1984 as MM-Research

Employees16 Market researchers: Psychologists, social, political and economical scientists

Foundation 1971 as Institut für Produktforschung und Information

Employees18 Product researchers: Engineers, physicists, household scientists


Branches of Business

Kitchen TechnologyPersonal Care

Children’s products

Leisure/Outdoor products

Domestic engineering

ConsumerElectronics


Focus Group or MROC – qualitative research

2. Research Questions and Study Design


Research Questions

Which of the two methods is the most effective, concerning two aspects:

1. The amount of information …better stimulate the test persons to reveal as much as possible information?

2. The collection of individual opinions …better stimulate the test persons to reveal individual opinions?


Literatur Review

1. Regarding the amount of information Lamnek (2005) found

out that online groups reveal more information because

differences between introverted and extroverted personalities

are leveled.

2. Erdogan (2001) suggests that individual opinions should

better provided in online groups as participants are not exposed

to any pressure of conformity. In focus groups people tend to

converge their opinions due to the pressure of conformity of the

attending group.

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Study Design

4 closed MROC groups and 4 focus groups Every group consisted of six participants and one moderator The focus groups discussions took 1 hour

The time for discussions in the online groups was 2 weeksTimeframes based on internal experienceComparability not guaranteed

Issue of discussions: The influence of the value “sustainability” on the purchase intention of consumers

Every group discussion (online and offline) focused on a different industry sector: clothing, cosmetics, food products and hardware for personal hygiene


Online Focus Group or MROC?

Poynter (2010, 111): “When review online qualitative research many researchers

draw a major distinction between synchronous and asynchronous approaches.[…]

[…]

The first online qualitative technique that arrived on the scene was the

introduction of email groups, which was an asynchronous technique but only

occasionally used. The next was the development of a synchronous technique,

the online focus group. This was followed by the asynchronous bulletin board

group, which in many ways was the forerunner of the online research community

(also known as an MROC).”

3. Results


Amount of Information - Analysis

MROC Focus group

Order_of_speeking


Amount of Information - Analysis

Most 1 Most 2 Most 3 Most 4 Most 5 Most 6

1087

806738.333333333333

588.666666666667

345

164.5

782717

667570

449375

Means of the number of spoken or written words per test person

MROCs focus groups

Mean for all spoken words by

the test persons in the focus groups:

593

Means for all written words by

the test persons in the online groups:

622

Lamnek (2005)?


Amount of Information - Conclusion

In the focus groups the number of spoken words per test persons is quite equal.

Influence of the moderator, who balances the discussion

In the online groups the written words per test person are very different. Lower influence of the

moderator in an online enviroment.

The amount of information is slightly bigger in the online groups, but in general is the outcome similar.


Individual Opinions - Analysis

1. Common buying behavior2. The importance of sustainability regarding the buying behavior 3. The perceived effort of the manufacturers to incorporate

sustainability4. The credibility of these activities

Used method -> guided interviews -> consisted on the following four parts:

Analysis -> Evaluation of different attitudes and opinions -> to get different pattern of behavior and thought

Second research question -> Comparison of the discoverd diversity of pattern of behaviour and thoughts -> regarding online or offline methods

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Individual Opinions - Conclusion

• No big differences in the diversity of different pattern of behavior and thought regarding the online or offline groups

• Mostly the same outcome regarding online and offline methods

Reason:

The discussed topic is not delicate at all. People do not need to converge their opinions to give socially desirable answers.

Erdogan (2001)?

4. Summary and Recommendation for future research


Summary - Results

No big differences between the two methods regarding the amount of information and the evaluation of different opinions.

• Online groups are more difficult to balance by the moderator

• The general effort to moderate an online group is bigger than to moderate a focus group

• The benefits of MROC did not show to advantage in this research project

-

Disadvantages of MROC


Recommendation for future research

To benefit from MROC just work with this method on research projects with the following characteristics:

• Research projects on delicate issues

• National or international projects

• Home Use Tests – Usage Diaries

• Explorative questions without guided interviews

ipi Institute fürProdukt-Markt-Forschung Neckarstraße 155 D-70190 Stuttgart Germany

Tel. +49 711 931815-217Fax +49 711 931815-199

Project MangerDr. Martin Zuber | [email protected]

Thank you for your kind attention!