3WAVES BLOG

Friday January 1st, 2010 | Posted in Focus Groups | No Comments

Running  focus groups can be quite challenging in any market and Japan is certainly no exception. Differences in language and culture demand that researchers carefully consider the research design for localization in order to get the most out of discussions. With this in mind, we have outlined a number of key recommendations for conducting focus groups here:

1. Keep discussions to 2 hours

Unlike in some other markets where respondents may comfortably sit and chat with each other for hours on end, in Japan, where formality and politeness are both deeply entrenched, respondents tend to tire more easily. It is therefore important to keep in mind the length of the groups where the quality of discussions may decline as time goes on. Generally focus groups in Japan are kept to a maximum of 2 hours and for any groups longer than this you will need to ensure the discussion guide is appropriately structured to take into acccount any fatigue that may set in towards the end. Read the rest of this entry