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oups are used as an important tool for acquiring consumer feedback. People are asked open ended questions about their attitude, values, beliefs and perceptions towards a particular product, brand, advertisement, concept or packaging. This technique capitalizes on the inter-personal communication amongst participants to generate data. This means that instead of asking one to one questions, the researcher throws the topic of discussion to the group and encourages them to share their ideas and opinions and counter question each other’s experiences.

Following steps are involved in focus group discussions:

Set the objectives: The purpose of the study needs to be clear and specific. The more well defined the objective, easier the execution and analysis.

Identify information needs: It involves decision upon what clients already know and what questions needs to be answered, what hypothesis is to be set regarding attitudes and motives and on what topics feedback is required.

Identify participants: This involves decisions as to number of participants required, preferred characteristics of the participants and the method of recruiting them.

Generate questions: A list of open ended questions needs to be kept handy. For e.g. instead of asking “do you like this packaging?” the moderator shall ask, “What do you think about this packaging?”

Select moderator: The moderator should be a knowledgeable person with regard to the issue in hand. Also, he should be able to deal tactfully with the participants, keep the discussion on the right track and free from any bias and preconceived notion.

Select the venue: The venue for the focus group study should be able to accommodate 5 to 15 people easily. Also, it should be easily accessible for the participants. A well selected venue also helps in encouraging conversation (cozy, inviting etc).

Moderate groups: The moderator will ensure the discussion keeps flowing in the right direction, probe respondents and draw out important questions.

Analyze and prepare reports: After thorough review of tapes recorded and notes taken, a written summary of results is submitted to the clients.

Focus group discussions as a technique is most suited in the situations where opinions and attitudes of consumers are conditional to the purpose of study. It is also suited in new areas of research. However, caution should be taken when the discussion could become emotionally sensitive or where confidentiality of information could be compromised.

The advantages of focus group discussions are in abundance. This method is extremely useful for bringing out the unanticipated reactions from the participants giving information about not only what behaviour people execute, but also how and why people behave so. Due to this reason, it can also be used as an effective social research tool in case of children or adults who are less literate. Thus, focus groups help in providing information about why or how a person holds certain beliefs about a topic or program of interest. It is a powerful social research tool and can provide high quality and validated data from the real consumers and that too in a cost efficient manner than if individuals were interviewed separately. It also adds flexibility to the research process with research having control to take the discussion in the right direc