New Article on Inc.com

When it comes to getting to know your customer, are you still using traditional focus groups?

New techniques could help you discover what your customers are really thinking.  Read more about it in my new article for Inc.com, The Future of Consumer Research.

Comments

[Jon Strande]

Great article Michele! And (way overdue) congratulations on getting the gig with Inc.!

I couldn't agree more - we've finally learned that focus groups don't work. My burning question is how not to bias people, when they know the purpose of the visit? Oh, and how to avoid the Hawthorne Effect...

Take the kimberly clark example, does the fact that these people have a camera watching them change their behavior at all?

[Nora]

Great article, Michelle. As a consumer, I often hit a point with a product where I want to scream: "Why didn't you ask me before you redesigned my favorite (fill in the blank)?" It's nice to know that some companies are asking! And women do have a "we are the world" kind of attitude in a focus group setting. We really don't want to tell someone they have done a poor job. On the other hand, we love to get together and dish. It's the difference between what's said in the meeting and what said in the ladies room after the meeting. And while no system is perfect, I'd trust what I hear in the ladies room a lot more than what I hear in the focus group!

[Holly Buchanan]

Amen to listening in the Ladies Room vs. the focus groups. Get women in a setting where they feel they can be honest, get women who know each other and can call "bullshit" on each other, and you will get invaluable information.

hmmmm.....yup - the Ladies Room may have some serious potential here. The more I think about it - the more I like it. Way to go Nora!

[Mary Hunt]

Nicely done, Michele. I totally agree on the "lying to get out of there" part. Now if you really want to know what works, ask the women working for you how they feel about the product. They have more riding on an honest answer - and they will be your stongest supporters in the market.

[Chris Busch]

You've deservedly driven a wooden stake through the deceptive heart of focus groups. What people say they will do (or buy) and what they actually will do (or buy) are often not the same.

But, maven that you are you didn't merely off the ogre, you gave us some useful alternative techniques. Great article. Congrats on being published by a top biz rag.

[Kristina]

I own an online lingerie boutique. When it came time to really get a grasp on my target markets, I turned to a marketing research company that conducted their research online and only to women. There was no age limitation because women wear bras until we are old enough to not care or pass away. It was a huge investment for a small company like mine but I knew the data that came from it could be very enlightening or painfully obvious. There was a little of both. They did a great job with segmentation.
This is a quiz they made to find what group you are in based on your attitudes towards lingerie. The quiz results are from all of the research data that was analyzed and how your attidudes are similar to the segments.
http://www.andersonanalytics.com/gigiscloset/typingtool.htm

(may have to copy and paste if the link isn't active)

What do you think about it? What do you think about the group you are in?

Kristina
www.GigisCloset.com

[Michele]

Kristina, thanks so much for sharing this with us. I love hearing about business owners brave (and smart) enough to invest in the right kind of research and love hearing success stories. I’m going to blog about this next week. You rock... not only for sharing your story but giving us insight from an owner’s perspective.

You’re going to be a big success... I can see it.

[Kristin]

I found this article very informative. I'm a Fashion Merchandising student and we take a lot of Retail classes. The books are so old that it says companies should use focus groups to find out who their target market is and what they like. It also mentions that this is the ideal way because the company can see how the customer reacts to a product. I'm glad I read your article because now I know that there are other more efficient ways to find target customers. This will be especially handy when I have to find a job when I graduate and I'll know how to answer if that question is asked.