Module 2 — What Is a Focus Group?

Hey, everyone. This is Brenda again, and welcome back!

And by the way, there’s going to be a link to your first short paid survey below this video so that you can earn a little money while you’re learning. It’s my hope that by the end of this lesson that you’ll understand what a focus group is, who uses them, and why we get paid to join them.

This video addresses what a focus group is.

A focus group is a discussion led by a moderator. It also could be a discussion led by several moderators, where a group of people share their opinions about a product, a service, a concept, an advertisement, or a real-world issue. Also, a focus group can be 1 on 1. Now they can be remote from your home, or they can be on-site at a location accessible with a commute.

The reason that companies use focus groups is to gather feedback before launching new products. Or they may use feedback to improve their existing services, or they could use them to test marketing campaigns. Instead of guessing what customers want, companies need to collect real opinions from people like me and you. Companies don’t guess what consumers want — they pay to find out. The global market research industry, which includes focus groups, surveys, and interviews, has grown to approximately $140 billion a year. The United States leads the world in that spending at $48 billion. That’s a lot of money — and a big part of it goes to people like you and me, just for sharing our opinions.

So the next time that you see a new product on a store shelf—if you’re shopping dog food and all of a sudden you see completely new packaging, or if you download an app or an update—every one of these changes had a focus group or a survey or a set of surveys behind it. Before that product or service or that new packaging reached the public, it was tested and discussed by people like us. Regular consumers gave feedback. They shared their opinions at length. And they pointed out what they feel worked and what didn’t. And that input shapes what ultimately makes it to the shelves and to the market.

Focus groups are also used by political campaigns and legal teams. These are called mock trials. Think of a mock trial as almost like a real trial in a courtroom—but more like an unofficial rehearsal of the actual trial. In political campaigns, they test different messages to see how people will react. In legal cases, lawyers use focus groups to see how a jury might respond to the facts and the arguments. Since these campaigns and trials do cost a lot of money, getting feedback early helps them to make smarter decisions. And that feedback comes from regular people—people like you and me. Focus groups are tons of fun to do and there’s just something really special about getting paid to give your opinion.

As I promised you, here’s how you’re going to get paid a little while you learn. Please click the link under this video—and a new page will open. On that page, there will be instructions on how to proceed.

Thanks for being here. I appreciate your time, and I hope this course does great things for you. See you in the next video.