Group Conversations vs. 1:1 Conversations

The Awesome Power of Each for Better Market Research

Regardless of what you market, you need consumer input to develop it or sell it. Even government agencies and elected officials need to build public consensus for their initiatives, so they don't lose their approval rating. While there are many ways to talk to consumers, two of our favorite market research methods at Talk Shoppe are focus groups and one-on-one interviews.

Depending on your objectives - each option has its pros and cons. And in some cases, they work better together. Let's define each method first.

Defining Focus Groups

The term focus group refers to a small group of individuals from your target audience meeting together about a single topic hosted by a moderator or two moderators, also called a researcher and a facilitator. Focus groups vary in size. A microfocus group uses three to five participants, while a macro focus group uses six to eight participants. These small groups prove manageable for an organized question and answer format.

Typically, a focus group only lasts up to an hour, with the shortest meeting taking 30 minutes. These succinct meetings don't tire participants, so you continually obtain the best responses and accurate information.

Defining Interviews

A one-on-one interview refers to a private conversation between an interviewer, who asks the questions, and an interviewee, who answers the questions. This personal, one-on-one conversation offers in-depth information and an opportunity for the interviewee to reveal information that she or he may not feel comfortable sharing in a larger group. Because the information only gets used as marketing data and isn't publicly revealed, individuals often reveal information that can help improve a product or uncover why it isn't selling.

When to Use Focus Groups

When you need to gauge a variety of opinions, have consumers innovate, or brainstorm concepts, a focus group works best. These meetings help brands gather information to develop or improve a product. Focus groups help you explore new concepts or test the existing market. A company can find new products to develop by discovering consumer pain points. Meeting with up to eight people at a time in a pre-planned, invitation-only focus group can help you discover problems to solve for consumers. It can also help you explore consensus on a topic or the lack of consensus.

Since most people won't want to hurt your feelings, when you ask directly in an interview about a product, they won't tell you the harsh truth. However, in a small group, one individual can bank off of another individual's statement. They may agree or disagree, but either way, keep the conversation going so that you discover valuable insights.

If the company or researchers have little time to gather information, a focus group works better. You can obtain the thoughts of several people over the course of a week.

When you need to explore your target audience, the focus group works better. You'll obtain a cross-section of opinions from a single meeting that helps you delve into the segments of your target audience. Consider this conversation your time to uncover leads.

When to Use Interviews

Interviews prove handy when you need to go deep or ask about sensitive topics. If your product or initiative involves hygiene, medical information, intimate topics, or financial information, you'll obtain better insights in a private one-on-one interview.

Additionally, the one-on-one interview offers a great tool to help gather the opinions of groups that are typically marginalized in traditional market research, such as islanders, the LGBTQIA+ community, remote communities, Native American nations, or foreign tribal groups. These groups typically reveal less in-depth information in public.

When you need to explore a specific segment of your audience, do so through individual interviews. Rather than the disagreements that can arise when you inquire about a product in the focus group, in an interview you can pursue in-depth information pertaining to product leads you uncovered in the focus group.

When to Use a Combination of Both Market Research Methods

In some situations, you'll obtain the best information by using both focus groups and interviews. Using a focus group first lets you understand what points your target audience agrees with and where they differ. Their commonalities help you develop better strategies, but their differences help you understand marketing issues to overcome and how you may need to extend the product. For example, a social media platform might conduct a focus group to learn how people are using their app - and key features that are most exciting to their target audience. 

In follow-up, one-on-one interviews, the social media platform could dig deeper to learn what makes these features exciting, how they are using features, and if there are any features missing that would help to connect even better with their loved ones. This information can inform product development, marketing strategy, and creative executions in the future. 

Using both market research methods lets you pursue ideas and information revealed in the focus group. Since most groups max out their meeting time at one hour and consist of up to ten people, each person would only get about six minutes to speak. The interviews you conduct with each person afterward provide each with more time to elaborate on their ideas and thoughts. What they blurted during the group brainstorming session, in the interview they can flesh out.

In Conclusion

Both focus groups and interviews have their place in market research. You can use either or both to obtain the data you need to create new products, improve marketing strategies, or research an issue or area. Rather than vying with one another for the attention of the researcher, combining the two market research methods often provides the best results.

Specializing in custom solutions and fresh approaches, we do not have a one-size-fits-all solution. We wholeheartedly believe that data without insightful interpretation is just noise. That’s why we not only apply context and meaning to the data, we focus on delivering the 10% that really matters to your business.