Compare and contrast focus group research with interview research.

Focus groups usually involve small group sessions with approximately 6-12 consumer participants. The session is guided by a moderator who leads a group discussion involving a product, concept, or marketing message. Focus groups are often used when a new idea or product is being tested, or the researchers want to generate new ideas for what strategic direction to take next. As you might guess, one benefit of focus groups is that they tend to elicit more rich, detailed, and narrative feedback from consumers. One drawback, however, is that social influence can play a role, dampening the expression of consumers' true individual attitudes. (See Chapter 11 for a discussion of some of these effects.)
One other research technique is to utilize in-depth interviews. Like focus groups, interviews involve direct contact with the consumer. In contrast to focus groups, this approach involves a one-on-one interaction with an interviewer and respondent. Interviews allow the researcher to collect rich, in-depth data, but minimize any impacts of group factors influencing consumer responding. Interviews can be particularly useful if the topic is sensitive, embarrassing, or polarizing in some way. The downside of interviews is that the research process can take much longer and is much more expensive because each consumer is being asked questions one at a time.