How To Avoid Focus Group Flops
Recruiting for qualitative market research studies is the core of our business, so our ears perk up any time we read about focus groups or other sorts of qualitative methodologies. A recent newsletter posting in Planet Money caught our attention for its mention of examples when focus group findings flop. The example used in the article was the McDonald’s roll out of the Arch Deluxe burger back in the mid-nineties. On the face of it, McDonald’s took all the right steps before doing a very expensive, nation-wide release of the Arch Deluxe burger. Before the roll out of the new menu item the company conducted focus groups to get feedback on its new product offering. The results from the focus groups looked promising: the respondents loved the new product. Armed with successful insite research feedback, the company watched in dismay as the Arch Deluxe flopped. It failed to bring new customers into stores. Customers mostly ignored the new burger and opted for more fam...