Focus groups & In-depth Interviews
We have conducted 1,000+ focus groups and IDIs to understand consumer behavior and to evaluate products, media, and concepts.
Ideal For
- Hands-on Product Testing (video games, mobile applications, websites, consumer electronics, any type of product)
- Media Testing (trailers, promos, pilots, ads, film, any type of media)
- Concept Testing (positioning statements, concept descriptions, feature lists, key art, video, any type of conceptual assets)
- Consumer Behavior and Ethnography
Background
- We bring groups of 6-8 respondents into a secure facility to evaluate a product or concept and participate in focus group discussion
- Depending on the research objective, we may choose to conduct 1:1 interviews in lieu of groups or in addition to groups
Research objectives may include but are not limited to:
- Journey mapping: Understand the consumer’s path from initial awareness to purchasing and post-purchase information sharing
- Product evaluation: Identify the areas of improvement and key strengths of the product
- Longitudinal studies: Analyze respondents’ progressive experience with the product over a set amount of time (e.g., days, weeks) via in-person or phone discussions and periodic diary-style surveys
- Follow-up interviews: Obtain additional feedback and clarification from respondents that are identified as particularly informative
- Concept testing: Evaluate the appeal of pre-production concepts and/or marketing materials to hone in on the most appealing opportunities
- Marketing materials: Gauge the efficacy of written copy, screenshots, promotional video, packaging/box art, app icons, potential product names, and more
- Pricing: Determine the price point respondents are willing to pay for the product
- Mock reviews: Assemble a group of reputable professional reviewers to evaluate the product in an effort to predict market and critical reactions
Process
- Group Testing and Discussion (60 minutes or longer if necessary)
- Product Testing: Consumers use the product either at individual stations or together in groups, as specified by the client. We observe organic usage behavior
- Media Testing: Consumers are seated at individual TV stations with headphones and exposed to the visual stimulus (trailer, promo, pilot, ad, film, any media)
- Concept Testing: Consumers evaluate concept descriptions, positioning statements, feature lists, key art, and video footage
- Consumer Behavior / Ethnography: Respondents discuss their attitudes, preferences, purchasing behavior, and any other topics of interest
- The client will be able to observe behind a one-way mirror
- We securely record and stream the experience live to accommodate remote clients worldwide
- In-Depth Interview (60 minutes or longer if necessary)
- The moderator sits down in-person or conduct a phone call with the respondents and conduct a personalized interview regarding their experience with the product.
- We securely record and stream the experience live to accommodate remote clients worldwide
Recruiting
- You will have total control over the recruiting criteria of your respondents
- VGM delivers superior quality, higher accuracy, and faster turnaround time on recruiting vs. other full-service vendors because we recruit for qualitative studies using our proprietary respondent database and our internal team of seasoned recruiters
- We are one of the only full-service vendors that handles recruiting internally rather than outsourcing to third-party subcontractors
- Every respondent that attends your groups will undergo a rigorous five-step screening process:

Moderation
- The moderator will have experience conducting 500+ qualitative sessions
- Watch and direct the qualitative discussion sessions in real time with VGM’s live video stream and integrated chat, included at no charge
Analysis and Reporting
- Part 1 – Topline (delivered in 48 hours upon completion of the research, including weekends)
- Outlines the key takeaways of the research and the most critical areas of improvement
- Part 2 – Final report (delivered in 5 to 7 days upon completion of the topline, including weekends)
- Our deliverable provides an overall assessment of quality, outline the key strengths and differentiators, and most importantly, will provide actionable steps that the client can take to improve product quality
Services Included:
- Full service test plan creation and execution
- Project management
- Recruiting
- Respondent incentives
- Moderation
- Streaming/recording of group discussion (secure online archive)
- Streaming/recording of product usage (secure online archive)
- Real-time chat feature with moderator during group discussion
- Device rental (iPhone, iPad, Android Tablet, PC, TV)
- On-site logistics
- Facility
- Travel
- Client meals
- Analysis
- Topline report
- Final report
- Follow-up analysis upon request