Focus groups hit by economic downturn, says FocusVision

US-- The global economic downturn and a decrease in US advertising spending have slowed the rate of growth in the use of focus groups around the world, according to a study by focus group technology firm FocusVision.

Its 12th annual Focus Group Index estimated that the total number of global focus groups in 2008 was up just 0.2% to 538,000, compared to 537,000 the previous year.

The firm estimates that throughout 2008 the US played host to 251,000 focus groups and the rest of the world carried out 287,000.

In the US, the number of groups actually declined 1.4%, having grown 2.9% and 3.7% in 2007 and 2006 respectively. In the rest of the world, the rate of growth slowed to 1.7% after increases of 4.1% and 3.4% in previous years.

Carol McNerney, vice president of marketing at FocusVision, told Research that the decline in advertising research spend and the impact of the global recession were the major reasons for the slowdown, but the growing shift towards online focus groups and research communities had also played a part.

She said: “We saw a decent first three quarters in the US before a really steep decline in Q4.” McNerney said this trend has continued into 2009 with a “pretty substantial drop” in the first quarter of the year, though she expressed confidence that the situation would level out over the full 12 months.

Focus Group Index data was gathered from industry associations including the Marketing Research Association (MRA) and Esomar, according to FocusVision

Author: James Verrinder

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