Yes, I agree, When they are done right, you can get great information from focus groups. I think the challenge is to find respondents who are independent enough to say what they think rather than to echo what they think the moderator wants them to say.
Re: Cash heavy
AskAsa
2/7/2012 8:56:02 PM
I'm finding many people who are beginning to regard facebook maintainance as a chore rather than a pleasure.
Re: Cash heavy
Broadway
2/7/2012 2:50:03 PM
Noreen, lol! I think focus groups go a long way to explaining why a lot of those head-scratcher Hollywood movies get made for sure.
But seriously, if done right, paying for information and opinions from consumers can be beneficial. Isn't that what paying consultants is all about too? Only difference is consultants pawn themselves off as experts and get paid a lot more.
Focus groups: proudly paying people for the information corporate execs want to hear.
Re: Cash heavy
Broadway
2/6/2012 10:45:20 PM
@Dex, I think data buyers would be fine buying that induced data. It is similar to relying on surveys where you had to pay off respondents with some sort of incentive, right?
"When the quality of "sharing" degrades to the point that customers keep the interesting and useful stuff to themselves..."
I don't know about everybody else, but I'm already experiencing this.
A good comparison might be the quality and quantity of work that we produce when one works as paid staff versus a volunteer. When one produces excellent work as a volunteer (excellent=credible, truthful, relevant--attributes that give marketing data real value) what is the motivation? If it is mainly so one can feel right with her/himself, simply feel good about the input and effort, does this feeling have a place, a justification, within the Facebook world? My guess is that contributors will get tired of doing it gratis, and if they try to keep it up in spite of the annoyance factor, that the quality and quantity will actually ultimately suffer.
Faithfully exercising one's duty regarding transparency and honesty will also depend upon who is paying--if it is the manufacturer/sponsor, the incentive for honesty expression diminishes (just tell 'em what they want to hear, they'll be happy!. If it is Facebook paying, and Facebook is perceived as a dispassionate intermediary, the incentives for truth reporting and expression should increase (as long as there is user control over who sees the information).
Re: Cash heavy
Dex
2/6/2012 12:40:54 PM
Would buyers of Facebook data perceive it as equally as valuable or pure if they knew the providers were somehow being induced or rewarded to provide it?
Re: Cash heavy
tokyogai
2/6/2012 8:52:54 AM
I agree it can be tracked this way. I just would not hold out for my reward.
The Greater Fool Theory, first and foremost made possible by restriction, not expansion.
Think Madoff; it is the rarified air, the specialness, the exclusion--the same elements in the tech IPO-marketing playbook. The second string coming in guarantees windfall-type "profits" for the chosen few, and the play continues with returns being make on the back of the newest guy that joins the team. The varnish comes off only when the celebrity-style odd baby name gets into the vernacular.
The crucial point is that expansion of access at the outset--letting everybody participate--means that the Ponzi-scheme aspect of this and other offerings like it is GONE!
I understand the past necessity of having a few committed investors up front--guaranteed participation at a certain strick price--for the purpose of market-making. Technology has made this unnecessary, extending the global reach of financial markets and opening markets to vastly larger numbers of people trading easily, inexpensively. Marketing has a world-wide scope as well.
So on what grounds does it make sense to leave these restrictions in place?
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