Focus Groups

I like to try new products, so naturally when I was asked to participate in a focus group, I was excited. I've taken a few paid surveys at the kiosks in the student commons before, but none of them involved much of a time commitment.

Focus groups, I had heard, were different. They could take anywhere from half an hour to several days, and could pay from 20 dollars to a few hundred bucks. Of course I was hoping for the latter, but I was happy just to get the opportunity to get money for no work, while having the chance to check out some of the newest products on the market.

There are many different companies that hold focus groups. Although you generally won't know what you're going to be looking at until you get there, if you know who is doing the research you can look up the group's focus. Some companies exclusively tests television ads, others like to look at kids toys, while other market research companies work on a broad range of different projects.

The  particular focus group I was sitting in with catered to college students almost exclusively. They carried out research on alcohol and tobacco, on music, clothing, and any other area that might interest your typical college student. I actually came across their online focus groups before, but hadn't had a chance to participate. I have been skeptical at the time, but seeing is believing. In front of me were laid out some of the neatest toys I had seen in a while.

This particular focus group, you see, had been convened to study the buying habits of college engineering students. I was surprised that focus groups got that narrow in their emphasis – I always assumed that they would target a broader demographic.

Nevertheless, it immediately became obvious to me why I had been selected. I had the right look, and they made me for the geek I was. They showed me advertisements for new video games along with a selection of other products, and had me rate their appeal. Then, as a special treat at the end, I was able to try out some demos. There were a lot of other people there in the focus group, and they had us all talk together about what we were seeing. I actually made some friends during the project. Best of all, I went home with a nice little chunk of change, and an idea about what games I wanted to try out.

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