What Are Paid Survey Focus Groups & How Do They Work?
Posted by Ngullen Rivera
Focus Groups, Paid Surveys, & Other Market Research
Opportunities Demystified
Businesses and other organizations use focus groups and paid
surveys to research consumer and public opinion concerning a
variety of issues. Corporations look to focus groups for general
help in selling their products to the world at large instead of
any type of direct marketing efforts.
Focus groups & Paid Surveys are usually conducted by Market
Research companies. Market research companies are hired by the
big corporations such as Coca-Cola and Nestle. The reason they
do this is because the market research companies have the
experience and expertise to make sure the focus groups are
accurate and unbiased. If the corporations did this themselves
they may not get impartial information and could make mistakes
costing them millions of dollars (not to mention their jobs!)
So from here on out, when I talk about companies that conduct
focus groups and paid surveys, I am referring to market research
companies. These will be the companies whom you will contact,
register with, and get paid from. This is VERY important for you
to remember.
OK, so what kinds of focus groups and paid surveys exist? Well,
generally there are two types: Offline and Online.
Offline:
These are small, roundtable discussion groups on topics ranging
from the latest features on internetworking hardware to new
flavors of ice cream. They usually involve about 10 participants
plus the group leader or moderator. Each session usually lasts
about 2 hours and the discussion is "focused" on a particular
topic, about which group members share their opinions. An
honorarium of $40-$80 for time and effort is very common. It is
not unusual for observers from the client corporation to watch
the group in action.
In focus groups, unlike telephone paid surveys, people can be
shown products or ads and can be given an opportunity to express
how they feel and what they think in a normal, conversational
setting. As a research method, the use of focus groups is less
about statistics and numbers and more about qualitative matters
such as whether people find an ad humorous, and why they find it
humorous, or if people believe a product is appealing and why
they think so.
Online:
Online focus groups and paid surveys are a cost effective
alternative to conventional "face-to-face" focus groups. Online
focus groups generally invite 8 to 10 people to join for a
specified period of time (90 minutes to two hours) in a
specialized chat room. This controlled environment allows
participants to view text, graphics, sounds/jingles, video or
multimedia for evaluation and testing. It is not uncommon for
observers from the client corporation to watch the group in
action and send private messages to the co-moderators as the
group is progressing.
Copyright © by Ngullen Rivera ngullen@gmail.com
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