Advertising motivates people by appealing to their problems, desires and goals-- and by offering a means of solving their problems, satisfying their desires, and achieving their goals. To the consumer, a product is not so much a physical object as a bundle of satisfactions. For example, instead of emphasizing the characteristics of the product, beer commercials often focus on:

 

• being popular and well-liked
• the pleasure of being with friends
• sexuality
• aggressiveness
• competition
• playfulness, childishness and uninhibited behavior
• freedom and independence
• status

Persuasion that appeals to our emotions has been greatly enhanced in recent years though the use of a research with focus groups. Focus groups are used to discover the emotional and psychological desires of members of the target audience. A focus group is usually led by a moderator, who invites a small group of 8 to 15 people to share their feelings about products, services or problems. Some common devices include questionnaires and surveys which may ask people to:

 

 

• being popular and well-liked
• the pleasure of being with friends
• sexuality
• aggressiveness
• competition
• playfulness, childishness and uninhibited behavior
• freedom and independence
• status

Persuasion that appeals to our emotions has been greatly enhanced in recent years though the use of a research with focus groups. Focus groups are used to discover the emotional and psychological desires of members of the target audience. A focus group is usually led by a moderator, who invites a small group of 8 to 15 people to share their feelings about products, services or problems. Some common devices include questionnaires and surveys which may ask people to:

• agree or disagree with a number of statements representing different beliefs or attitudes
• rank order or select statements which most match their beliefs
• describe how different types of pictures, newspaper headlines or videotapes make them feel

These techniques can help get information about the existing emotions, attitudes and beliefs of members of the target audience. According to psychologists who work in advertising agencies, traditional survey research questions may not completely capture important feelings and attitudes. In New York magazine, journalist Bernice Kanner describes some unusual techniques used in focus groups:

• Complete sentences about the product, ("M&M candies went to a party last night and...")
• Fill in balloon captions of cartoon characters talking about a product
• Paste up photo-collages of the famous people they associate with certain brands
• Match up companies and products with various animals, colors and places
• Invent a story about the product
• Act out their feelings about a product

You might invite students to brainstorm how people's behavior in a focus group may be different or similar to their behavior in other settings. Under what conditions is the information that people provide in a small group accurate? When would people be most likely to give inaccurate or incomplete information? 

TRY THIS! ACTIVITY

Planning A Focus Group 
Plan a strategy for conducting a focus group and gather and analyze the information you collect by answering the questions below.

What are the specific demographic characteristics of your target audience?       
What do you hope to learn about the emotions, attitudes, knowledge and beliefs of your target audience?       
Emotions: I hope to learn about their feelings about ...      
Positive Attitudes: I hope to learn about...      
Negative Attitudes:I hope to learn about...      
Knowledge and Beliefs: I hope to learn about what they know and think about      
How will you select your focus group?      
What will you do in your focus group to make the people feel comfortable?       
How will you document what happens in the focus group?      

Analyzing Your Results
After you've conducted the focus groups, answer the questions below.
 
1. Make a list of all the different feelings that people experienced during the session.
2.  Make a list of all the different beliefs, statements of fact or specific examples of knowledge that participants shared during the focus group.
3. Make a list of all the negative attitudes that you detected in the focus group.
 4.  Make a list of all the positive attitudes that you detected in the focus group.