How To Use Market Research Groups Successfully

A market research group (sometimes called a 'focus group') is a small continuous group of people used for ongoing market research.

There are six key factors that should be in place for a market research group to work successfully:

1) The group should be willing to be part of the group. Sounds obvious, but you need 110% buy in from the group. You may want to incentivise the group to encourage them to take part regularly.

2) You should aim for a group size of 6 to 8 participants. This means you will need an ongoing pool of between 15 and 20 participants. From this pool, you can get your final group. A larger pool means that you can run the group even if most of the group don't attend.

3) The market research needs to be consistent. The same structure and questions need to be asked each time. The aim is to build up a profile of how things have changed over a period of time. If you change the questions, you will not be able to make a comparison to previous research.

4) You need to ask open and closed questions. An open question often leads to discussion and new avenues being explored whereas closed questions keep things focused and allow comparison to previous research.

5) You should be running the market research groups regularly. Whatever time period you choose, make sure that the groups meet at this time. Don't let things slip.

6) Use an expert to run your market research groups. You need the groups to be run well and to be unbiased. Any hint of the research being biased will reduce the overall effectiveness.

For more information on a market research groups, please click the link below:

market research groups peterborough

Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, in the county of Cambridgeshire, lying just 75 miles (121 km) north of London at Charing Cross.

The city is situated on the River Nene, which flows into the North Sea approximately 30 miles (48 km) to the north-east. The local topography is notoriously flat and low-lying, and in some places lies below sea level. The area known as the Fens falls to the east of Peterborough.

The population grew rapidly following the arrival of the railways in the nineteenth century, and Peterborough became an industrial centre, particularly noted for its brick manufacture. Following the Second World War, growth was limited until designation as a New Town in the 1960s. The population is once again undergoing rapid expansion and a £1 billion regeneration of the city centre and immediately surrounding area is underway. In common with much of the United Kingdom, industrial employment has fallen, with new jobs tending to be in financial services and distribution. New service-sector companies like Thomas Cook and Pearl Assurance were also attracted to the city, ending the dominance of the manufacturing industry as employers.

Peterborough is a major stop on the East Coast Main Line, 45–50 minutes journey time from central London, with high-speed intercity services from King's Cross to Edinburgh Waverley. It is a major railway junction where a number of cross-country routes converge. The A1/A1(M) broadly follows the path of the historic Great North Road from St. Paul's Cathedral at the heart of London, through Peterborough, continuing north a further 335 miles (539 km) to central Edinburgh.

The city is currently without a university, since Loughborough University closed its Peterborough campus in 2003. In 2006 however, Peterborough Regional College was in talks with Anglia Ruskin University to develop a new university campus for the city. The college and the university have now officially completed the legal contracts for the creation of a new joint venture company. The formation marks the culmination of legal negotiations and securing of funds required in order to build the new higher education centre.