Imagine the call:

“Hello, this is Margo from Insightful Research. Assuming you are in our target demographic of 35-54-year-old employed female users of financial investment services, would you be available to join a group of complete strangers in a mirrored room and be videotaped spilling your unbiased opinions about our brand in exchange for a $75 incentive?”

C’mon. How valuable could the results be?

In “Lies, Damn Lies, and Focus Groups,” Daniel Gross, business columnist for Newsweek and Slate, says, “Evidence suggests focus group participants often lie.”

One reason, he suggests, is because they are simply eager to please. “They’re getting paid and fed or might have a crush on the moderator. So, they might tell her — and the marketing types behind the one-way mirror — what they think they want to hear, rather than what they really think.”

Some other reasons focus group results are questionable:

• How honest can the testimony be when gathered in such an unnatural environment? Participants are often “in” on the game. They know there are marketing voyeurs behind the mirror. They know every word they say is being recorded, discussed, evaluated. They guess at the group’s sponsor and purpose, and modify their opinions accordingly.
• In life, trust must be established before honesty flows. The focus group format doesn’t allow time for trust-building.
• Participants are all too willing to share opinions, even when they have no relevant knowledge or experience. Gross quotes Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman from his book How Customers Think: “The correlation between stated intent and actual behavior is usually low and negative.” In other words, what participants say they do and what they actually do (such as buy the sponsor’s product) may be very different.
• Focus group sponsors and their consultants are often too eager to validate their own beliefs. They may hone in on one participant’s comment and ignore the rest.

Suggestions for better results:

• Pay lots of attention to recruiting.
• Only use facilitators who are especially skilled at drawing insights from participants and managing group dynamics.
• Don’t stop with one or two groups. Conduct several to validate findings.
• Don’t count votes. They are not statistically accurate.

A better suggestion:

• Watch consumers in their natural habitats instead.

Do you find focus groups of any value? If so, how do you get the most from them?