Glossary

Online focus group

For online focus groups the concept of a moderated group discussion (focus group) is transferred to the online world. Qualitative group discussions can now be conducted efficiently via Internet. Instead of meeting within a test studio participants meet within virtual chat rooms, special mailing lists or forums.

Advantages of online focus groups

• Fast and independent of any fixed location
• Cost-efficient
• Possibility to reach specific or only hard-to-recruit target groups (e.g. B2B, young employees)
• Anonymity of participants leading to less distorted answer patterns (with socially sensitive subjects)
• Less influence of opinion leaders (social pressure, peer group pressure)
• Possible open or concealed intervention of the client (apart from the moderator) to get an overview of the course of discussion
• Possibility to present multimedia material (pictures, animations etc.), more “playful” and motivating
• Automatic and instant transcript

Disadvantages of online focus groups

• No direct and personal face-to-face interaction, which is most important for offline focus groups
• Non-verbal reactions of participants are not available for the moderator of the focus group
• Persons typing more slowly could miss out on the discussion