Page 198 - Marketing the Basics 2nd

190 Marketing: the Basics
moderator should be able to spot such a situation and intervene. On the other hand, moderators can hamper the quality of the research. Studies have shown that moderators can bias the group into saying what the researchers want to hear simply by asking leading questions, which is a form of questioning where the answer is included in the question. If you ever watch an interview with a sports figure, the interviewer nearly always asks a leading question, much like the following: ‘The rain played havoc with the field conditions, how hard was it to play on the pitch tonight?’ Even if the moderator is given a standard set of questions, the subjects themselves might give answers the researchers want to hear without being prompted. Many times the subjects are compensated for their time. As such, some feel they owe it to the funder to give them what they want. Clearly, focus groups are useful, but due to inherent flaws in the test, it shouldn’t be regarded as the sole means of gauging buyer
opinions.
inTeRvieWs
Interviews are one-on-one situations where an interviewer asks a subject direct and often probing questions. A person’s preferences, belief system and attitudes along with their opinions can be learned without the worries of conforming to a group. Interviewing is a very useful method if the person interviewed is an expert or someone who represents a large group. What’s more, the interview is largely unstructured, making the whole interview seem more like a conversation than a formal question and answer period. If the right source is found, a wealth of information can be extracted. One interview project Karl worked on was to interview people about their use of green or environmentally friendly products. This was for a large Canadian supermarket, Loblaws, which in the 1990s introduced a large number of green products in their stores based on the fact that Canadians in survey after survey agree they would pay more for a greener product. Unfortunately, these products weren’t selling well. In order to understand better this dichotomy, interviews were used. They were conducted in the home of the informants and involved rummaging through the refrigerator and under the kitchen sink, rather odd behaviour! The net result was