Editor's note: Daisy Spier is a moderator based in Larchmont, N.Y.

The focus group is due to begin in five minutes. The test materials have arrived, the respondents are all here, the moderator's guide has been honed to everyone's satisfaction and everything is as it should be. The clients are assembled in the viewing room and the atmosphere is thick with tension. Why? Anticipation of the unexpected, the unknown - what will happen in the next two hours?

It's this unknown quantity that sets moderators' adrenaline flowing and that allows them to start fresh with every group or interview.

Those of us who do qualitative research find that we often get answers to questions we never even asked. These serendipitous findings sometimes prove very valuable. Webster's defines serendipity as "an assumed gift for finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for." Focus groups seem to possess that gift. In fact, in a way, I like to think of focus groups (in somewhat paradoxical terms) as "planned serendipity."

"Planned serendipity"

When designing a research project, there are issues you hope to explore and learn about, but there are also things you don't even know you want to know. It can be magic when these findings emerge. Suddenly, everyone in the viewing room is leaning towards the mirror. A sense that something important may be happening pervades the room - something that will make the creative light bulb go on, or give the marketing director that special insight for product positioning or marketing strategy.

Through careful planning, you can achieve your initial objectives and also acquire some surprise findings.
Paul Georgiou, director of market research and planning at Avis Rent-a-Car System, explains, "You start with an objective in mind, but the deviation you take is tremendously important - with qualitative research you don't move in a straight line, you take side trips. For example, if you were going to California from New York, you could always go straight there. But you could also get there by going through Canada, making stops along the way and seeing new and unexpected scenery. This is what happens in focus groups. You don't know what you're going to see until you get there."

Dr. Tedd Rose, staff research analyst at Prodigy Services Co., believes that initial preparation is key: "These types of fortuitous discoveries, like many things in life, come best to those who are well- prepared. Writing an instrument, with the idea that we'll be open to what comes to us, will probably lead to many fortuitous remarks."

In fact, part of the research process is having a mindset where you are willing to accept the unexpected. Dr. Wayne McCullough, manager of communication, measurements and research, IBM Corp., says he doesn't refer to unlooked for findings as surprises per se: "What is there is there and I accept it. What comes out, comes out. We deal with it as it comes and try to incorporate it."

Serendipity knows no boundaries

Fortuitous discoveries can and do occur across product categories. One of the areas where surprises emerge is in people's emotional reactions to products, concepts or specific aspects of advertising.

"Although major surprises are usually rare, we are continually surprised about how the consumer thinks about some things," says Ilene Young, senior marketing research manager, Whitehall Labs. For example, when people are sick, some like to deny they have a problem, which is often why they use over-the-counter drugs instead of going to the doctor. "We are continually surprised at how much defensiveness there is," Young says.

Growing older is another fear that comes with the territory. "We tap into people's [fears about the] aging process. When you're younger, everything is fine, but as you get older, you start to need more medication and when you tell people that, they don't want to hear about it. It's often surprising to see how people resist basic facts of life. This often happens in the stomach remedy category. What you wouldn't get in quantitative is why people would be resistant to certain basic concepts. People just don't want to get older. So you really have to find the correct language to communicate to them, and you can't do that quantitatively."

Barry Phillips, director of marketing research at Cadbury Beverages International, offers this insight on the benefits of qualitative research for his industry: "Because our advertising is lifestyle and image- oriented, you can't get the answers from purely quantitative copy testing, because you can't formulate the questions. It's almost like getting a report card at the end of the term without ever having a conference with the teacher to know why your child isn't as strong [as possible] in some areas.

"Among the fundamentals of the soft drink market is acceptability. We have to grant the target consumer permission to hold our product in his hand, to be looked up to and accepted by the people he's around and not be laughed at. So it's really the emotional reaction to an ad that we're interested in.

"In one case, we weren't asking about the wardrobe [of people featured in an ad], but someone said, 'You know, all those kids are dressed just like our parents wish we would dress, but that's not how we want to dress.' As a result, we did a complete wardrobe study with the agency and then changed the hairstyles and clothing in the advertising."

Tedd Rose remembers going into a research project exploring one issue and emerging with a different one. "Many years ago we were evaluating some technical aspects of our service. But some of what came up was people saying 'You've got to tell us more about what it is we need to know. Tell me more about the breadth and scope of what your service offers me. How should I be using it? Tell me how it's going to enhance my quality of life, rather than how it works.'"

Sometimes the surprise findings are about competitors' products. Jon Friedman, director of marketing research a/Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., recalls, "We did some qualitative work in one of the segments of the facial cleanser market, and went in assuming that the users of the leading product must love it. We saw it as a gold standard to live up to and were concerned that our product's consistency was different from theirs. We were surprised to hear that their users actually disliked the consistency of the competitive product, found it difficult to remove from their faces after use, and thought the fragrance was too medicinal. We weren't looking for deficiencies in their product [but wed were pleasantry surprised to find this out."

Avis' Paul Georgiou also learned something about a competitor that wasn't part of the objectives of the groups he was attending. "Sometimes you get findings about personnel that really surprise you. We were talking to one of our competitor's customers . He mentioned that he landed in San Francisco, rented a car, and asked the car rental agent for directions to Market Street. The agent said, 'Do you mean Wall Street?' Here was a person whose job it was to give driving directions and they didn't even know one of the main streets of the city."

Sometimes the "surprise" is such that it shifts the entire nature of the research. Judy Raymond, senior vice president, product, at Simplicity Pattern Co., remembers an unexpected finding the research turned up. "In a foreign country we introduced a low one-price policy for all patterns. The introduction was supported with advertising and point-of-purchase materials. The purpose of the focus groups was to hear what consumers had to say about this pricing policy and to determine whether the price was low enough. We were shocked to learn that the retail environment was so cluttered with price messages that our revolutionary news had not gotten through to consumers. We had to shift gears and tell them about the policy. We learned that consumers were delighted with our policy and that they needed to learn about it via clear, bold graphics. We refined our message and our sales are reflecting that change."

These "off the guide" findings are not always immediately useful, suggests Paul Georgiou, but you may find them valuable in the long run. "You may be doing focus groups today and get some information that you don't use right away. But two years down the road, you may be working on something and you say, 'Wait a minute, remember those focus groups we did in '93? Let's work on that idea and retest it.' Qualitative research gives you food for thought for later on," he says.

How can you foster serendipity? When preparing for a qualitative research project, ask yourself the following questions:

  • Have I selected a moderator who puts people at ease and encourages openness and honesty in a group?
  • Does the interview guide cover all the important issues but also allow time for side trips? Is it a moderator's guide rather than a structured questionnaire?
  • Have I briefed the moderator sufficiently about the product category and the issues of interest and encouraged her or him to take these side trips when she or he recognizes areas of discussion that may lead to valuable findings?
  • Am I (and are my peers, superiors, agency, etc.) prepared to accept the element of surprise, and incorporate the findings in our work?

Then let the magic happen!