Participants in online focus groups react with each other and with subject material just as they would in a traditional focus group. |
Home builders are among the most prolific users of focus group research, but few employ the latest innovation in the field - online focus groups.
Builders in Florida's second-home markets are using online focus groups to test everything from design elements to marketing campaigns and pricing strategies. By doing it online, they can bring together customers from all over North America.
"The actual research usually costs about the same, but you don't have to rent a facility, buy food or provide transportation," says Barbara Allan, president of SRA Research Group (www.sra-researchgroup.com) in Jupiter, Fla. - You take less of participants' time because there is no travel. You eliminate the problem of a strong personality taking control of the group. Clients can communicate with the moderators during the focus group to ask them to probe for more data on a topic.
"Parallel tests show online takes less time, and as soon as you're done, you've got a transcript. Best of all, we find the data is deeper and richer. People come to the point faster."
Advertisement
Related Stories
Hamlet Homes' Mike Brodsky on Finding Successors and Letting Go
A transition that involved a national executive search, an employee buyout, and Builder 20 group mentorship to save the deal
Time-Machine Lessons
We ask custom builders: If you could redo your first house or revisit the first years of running your business, what would you do differently?
Back Story: Green Gables Opens Up Every Aspect of its Design/Build Process to Clients
"You never want to get to the next phase and realize somebody's not happy."