Focus groups are discussions in which a skilled moderator asks a set of carefully crafted but open-ended questions designed to uncover respondents’ thoughts, feelings and habits regarding a subject or product. The open-ended nature of the questions allows the moderator to react to respondents’ answers with new questions designed to dig deeper into an issue than typical question/answer survey research.

Focus groups are an invaluable source of information about the thoughts and reactions of actual consumers. Listening to real live consumers in a comfortable setting provides a unique opportunity to strengthen your understanding of the market. Focus groups are famous for providing information no one expects to hear. The open discussion format allows respondents the freedom to raise points that managers and researchers never considered.